The Supreme Court of India, responding to a request made by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), has directed both the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) and the Allahabad High Court to cease all ongoing proceedings related to the pleas submitted by various Sahara firms.
The bench, comprising Justice JS Khehar and Justice KS Radhakrishnan, listened to the arguments presented by SEBI before making its decision. Following this, the Justices ordered that all litigation involving Sahara firms, including SIREC and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation (SHIC), be transferred directly to the Supreme Court.
In a prior event earlier this year, SEBI took action by attaching the assets of Sahara firms and their leader, Subrata Roy. This action prompted the firms to submit an appeal to SAT, requesting their pleas be heard. However, in response to this appeal, SEBI sought intervention from the Supreme Court, asserting that all ongoing litigations against Sahara firms be moved under the jurisdiction of the apex court.
As the SAT was on the verge of examining the firms' pleas, the Supreme Court's recent ruling has blocked any further proceedings by the Tribunal. This follows an order issued by the Supreme Court on August 31 of the previous year, mandating the Sahara firms to repay more than Rs. 24,000 Crores to approximately three crore investors. This repayment was supposed to go through SEBI, which would ensure that the funds reach the investors.
Following this order, Sahara claimed it had already fulfilled the repayment obligations; however, SEBI rejected this assertion, stressing that the firms had not only failed to repay but also repeatedly ignored compliance with the Court's directive. As a result, SEBI took measures to attach the properties associated with the Sahara firms.
In the legal representation, senior advocate Arvind Dattar argued for SEBI, while Sahara group was defended by senior advocate Ram Jethmalani and advocate Keshav Mohan.