Sahara India Pariwar, an established name with presence across various sectors across India, launched four Cooperative Societies recently.
Amit Shah, Union Minister of Cooperation has revealed the distribution of Rs2,314.20 crore among 12,97,111 depositors who transacted with Sahara Group-operated cooperative societies and received payments. He provided this information in written replies in Lok Sabha as well as through press releases from Press Information Bureau (PIB).
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The Sahara Group was once an influential business conglomerate but has recently found itself embroiled in financial controversies over the last decade. Formerly active across real estate, media, finance and hospitality sectors. Refund claims relate to four multi-state cooperative societies belonging to Sahara:
- Sahara Credit Cooperative Society Ltd of Lucknow
- Saharayn Universal Multipurpose Society Ltd, Bhopal
- Humara India Credit Cooperative Society Ltd, Kolkata
- Stars Multipurpose Cooperative Society Ltd., Hyderabad
- As of March 31st 2023, cooperative societies had amassed deposits totalling Rs1,13,504 crore; however, due to various complaints regarding non-payment of matured deposits by them, depositors sought legal action in response to non-payback.
- Refund processes had been initiated pursuant to directives issued by the Supreme Court of India in WP (C) No. 191/2022 (Pinak Pani Mohanty vs Union of India & others), ordering transfer of Rs5,000 crore from “Sahara-SEBI Refund Account” to Central Registrar of Cooperative Societies (CRCS) for distribution among genuine depositors.
- Justice R. Subhash Reddy, former Supreme Court judge himself and advocate Gaurav Agarwal were appointed as supervisors for refund process supervision by both Justice R. Subhash Reddy as former SC judge R. Subhash Reddy himself and advocate Gaurav Agarwal respectively to supervise refund process.
- According to Supreme Court Directive, the Ministry of Cooperation launched the CRCS-Sahara Refund Portal (https://mocrefund.crcs.gov.in) on July 18, 2023 in order to facilitate refunding processes which are fully digital and paperless.
- Depositors were required to submit proof of identity and deposits; refunds are then transferred directly back into Aadhaar-linked bank accounts. Initially, disbursements were limited to Rs10,000 per depositor but this has now been increased to Rs50,000 per depositor. Furthermore, on November 15, 2023 a resubmission portal was introduced so depositors could correct any deficiencies in their applications; The Supreme Court extended this deadline until December 31, 2025.
