Sahara India Commercial Corporation Ltd. (SICCL) has said that the recent order of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to refund ₹14,000 crore to investors would tantamount to ‘double payment’ as investors had already been paid their dues except for ₹17 crore. It would raise the matter at the appropriate forum.
SEBI had asked SICCL to refund the money raised via optionally fully convertible debentures (OFCD).
SICCL had already discharged all its OFCD liabilities except for ₹17 crore outstanding OFCD liability towards 54,804 members. The TDS deducted on interest paid had been deposited with the Income Tax Department. Hence, the order makes it a case of ‘double payment’ for the liability which SICCL had already discharged, Sahara Group said in a statement.
Terming SEBI’s order as being totally against the spirit of natural law, the Sahara Group said, “While taking decision, SEBI once again has overlooked the hard facts and situations that very much prevailed at the time when SICCL issued OFCDs in 1998.”
In 1998, SICCL had taken the written permission of Registrar of Companies, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, for the first time, for issuing OFCDs. “On our part, everything was done as per law and with all the necessary permissions from the government authorities,” the group said.
“We will raise the matter at the appropriate platform,” Sahara Group added.
