Subrata’s demise not a break to Sahara issue: Sebi

Mumbai: Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch on Thursday said the Sahara matter will continue for the capital markets regulator even after the death of the group’s founder Subrata Roy. Roy died in Mumbai on Tuesday after a prolonged illness at the age of 75. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a Ficci event, Buch said for Sebi, the Sahara matter was about an entity’s conduct and added that it will continue regardless of whether an individual is there or not.

When asked why the refunds have been too less, Buch said the monies were returned through a Supreme Court-appointed committee basis the evidence of the claims made by investors. It has been reported that refunds of only Rs138 crore have been made to investors even though Sahara group was asked to deposit over Rs24,000 crore with Sebi for further refund to investors.

After a long process of appeals and cross-appeals, the Supreme Court, in 2012 ordered refund of deposits of its investors along with 15 per cent interest. Sahara was eventually asked to deposit an estimated Rs24,000 crore with Sebi for further refund to investors, though the group always maintained it amounted to double payment as it had already refunded more than 95 per cent of investors directly.