Sahara moves Supreme Court for stay on direction to pay

NEW DELHI: Two Sahara companies on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court seeking stay on the direction to pay up around Rs 19,000 crore to Sebi, saying the Rs 5,120 crore they had deposited with the market regulator was in excess of the amount needed to secure the investors.

After the apex court had directed Sahara on August 31 to pay up within three months, the two companies —Sahara India Real Estate Corporation (SIRECL) and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation ( SHICL) - had moved the Securities Appellate Tribunal and then the apex court again seeking to reduce their burden on the grounds that they had refunded to investors most of the outstanding money through premature redemptions.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir had on December 5 allowed the Sahara companies to deposit Rs 5,120 crore and pay the rest in two installments — one in the first week of January and the second in first week of February.



As the deadline for depositing the first installment of Rs 10,000 crore became due, the companies moved the apex court with an application seeking stay of the direction to refund Rs 24,000 crore contained in the August 30 judgment by Justices K S Radhakrishnan and J S Khehar.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi on Wednesday mentioned Sahara's fresh application for stay of August 31 judgment before a bench headed by Justice Radhakrishnan, who said he would consult Justice Khehar and decide about posting it for hearing.

Sahara said that the outstanding liability was not Rs 17,400 crore but much less than Rs 2,620 crore, which has already been deposited with Sebi on December 5. "The amount of Rs 2,500 crore deposited in addition to Rs 2,620 crore is sufficient to cover any exigency of payment," they said.

Referring to the extension of time granted on December 5 by the bench headed by the CJI, Sahara said, "Therefore, the direction to make payment of Rs 10,000 crore in the first week of January 2013 is only an extension of the order dated August 31, 2012. The applicants have already deposited an amount of Rs 5,120 crore with Sebi, which is far in excess of the amount outstanding to investors/depositors."

"However, in order to honour the December 5 order," SIRECL said it was ready to furnish a bank guarantee for Rs 10,000 crore through highly credible financial institutions.