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Over a decade after the Supreme Court’s directive, Rs 25,163 crore remains with SEBI, mostly unclaimed by Sahara investors
Only Rs 163 crore has been disbursed due to incomplete claims.
More than a decade after the Supreme Court directed the Sahara Group to return thousands of crores to its depositors, a staggering Rs 20,000 crore remains with market regulator SEBI – most of it untouched, unclaimed, and unrecovered.
This massive amount, belonging to lakhs of small investors across the country, has been under the oversight of SEBI since 2012, when the Supreme Court intervened in a long-drawn legal battle involving Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Limited and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation Limited. The apex court had mandated that Sahara repay investors who had been lured into dubious investment schemes.
Following the order, the Sahara Group deposited Rs 25,000 crore with SEBI, which was later placed in interest-yielding liquid fund accounts. Over the years, accrued interest has taken the total to Rs 25,163 crore. Of the Rs 25,000 crore, Rs 5,000 crore was deposited in a separate account to be paid back to the investors. However, it still remains unpaid.
Despite the scale of the operation and the availability of funds, the effort to return money to genuine investors has been lackluster. Only Rs 163 crore has been disbursed so far, meaning less than 1% of the available corpus has actually reached the rightful claimants.
Out of nearly 20,000 applications received for refunds, only around 15,000 depositors have successfully received their dues. Many of the claims either lacked proper documentation or failed verification processes. The remaining Rs 20,000 crore continues to lie idle in SEBI’s coffers, earning interest but not helping the very people it was meant to compensate.
This financial impasse came back into the spotlight after the death of Sahara Group’s controversial founder Subrata Roy in November 2023. His passing reignited public interest in what had become one of India’s most complex investor refund sagas.
The funds are specifically earmarked for investors who had put money into Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Limited and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation Limited. As per SEBI norms, any disbursal is contingent upon documentary proof of investment; something many rural and small-town investors struggle to provide more than a decade after they were lured into the schemes.
SEBI maintains the funds in liquid assets, which continue to yield returns higher than a typical savings account. As a result, even if the money sits unclaimed, it does not depreciate. However, the longer it remains unreturned, the more complex the situation becomes, particularly from a legal and administrative standpoint.
So, what lies ahead for this enormous pool of unclaimed investor money?
For now, SEBI says it will continue to hold the funds securely and disburse them to verified claimants who come forward with valid documents. But with thousands of crores still unclaimed, and no large-scale outreach or simplified claim process in place, many investors may never see their money again.
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