The Supreme Court on Friday said it was “difficult to digest” that Sahara paid the entire money in cash to millions of “duped” investors within a span of just two months. The court noted that that Rs. 24,000 crore “cannot fall from the heavens”.
“Though we don’t doubt your client’s ability to distribute crores in two months to millions of investors, we find it difficult to digest,” Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur observed at the head of a special bench also comprising Justices Anil R. Dave and A.K. Sikri.
Sahara chief Subrata Roy is out on parole after spending about two years in Tihar Jail, unable to garner bail for allegedly duping his investors.
The Bench asked Sahara to reveal the source from which it drew Rs. 24,000 crore to “distribute” amongst its investors within two months of the Supreme Court order to return the money to its investors.
“What is the source of this money? Did you get the money from other companies? Withdrew it from bank accounts? Or sold property to get it? It should be any of the three alternatives... Money did not fall from the heavens,” Chief Justice Thakur addressed Sahara counsel and senior advocate Kapil Sibal.
Mr. Sibal said the money was withdrawn from various schemes. “I have already filed an affidavit,” he submitted.
Senior advocate Arvind P. Dattar, for market regulator SEBI, said they cannot go and verify Sahara’s investors, but wanted to know the source of its money.
It was Mr. Sibal who started the discussion by putting the onus on SEBI to first verify the genuineness of Sahara investors.
He argued that the most which can be assumed against Sahara is that the money is unaccounted for.
“If it’s black money, who is SEBI to investigate? It is matter of income tax,” Mr. Sibal argued.
