Sahara firms told to file balance sheets

New Delhi: The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday asked two Sahara Group companies to file their balance sheets and explain how they have used several thousand crores that they raised from nearly 23 million investors.

Sahara India Real Estate Corp. Ltd and Sahara Housing Investment Corp. Ltd have been asked to return around Rs. 17,400 crore to investors by the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) within 6 weeks of 18 October.

Chief Justice S. H. Kapadia’s bench asked the two firms to file their balance sheets and statement of accounts, and said that the SAT order would not become operational till 9 January, when it will hear the case next.

“If it is an unsecured loan and god forbid something happens to your projects, then how will you protect you investors? Do you have any assets? We want to see your balance sheet,” justice Kapadia said to Sahara’s counsel, Fali S. Nariman.

“The company will say how the company seeks to protect the debenture holders,” ordered the court.

The Sahara companies collected the funds through financial instruments known as optionally fully convertible debentures.

Sahara has filed a defamation case in a Patna court against Mint’s editor and some reporters over the newspaper’s coverage of the company’s dispute with Sebi. Mint is contesting the case.