A response to a Right to Information (RTI) application has revealed that only Rs228.77 crore has been paid out against claims of Rs82,695.51 crore made by depositors of Sahara group’s four cooperative societies, through the central registrar of cooperative societies (CRCS) online portal to date.
This RTI application was filed by Akash Goel, an engineer, management graduate and chartered financial analyst, who occasionally pursues matters of public importance through RTI.
The total registrations on the CRCS refund portal for Sahara stand at a staggering 1.60 crore (1,60,38,266) and the number of claims submitted on the portal reached an astounding 3.41 crore (3,41,15,418). The claim payouts have lagged far behind, with only 0.3% of the total amount claimed being paid out.
Additionally, 52,113 claims have been resubmitted on the CRCS refund portal, with a total value of Rs52.19 crore. Payouts against these resubmissions have also lagged behind with only Rs3.13 crore being paid out till date.
While the government had launched the CRCS refund portal on 18 July 2023 for streamlined and speedy disbursement of legitimate claims made by depositors of Sahara’s credit societies, it appears that the payments are severely lagging behind.
The Sahara group of cooperative societies include Sahara Credit Cooperative Society Ltd, Saharayan Universal Multipurpose Society Ltd, Humara India Credit Cooperative Society Ltd and Stars Multipurpose Cooperative Society Ltd.
Earlier in the year, a Supreme Court judgement in the context of WP (C) no. 191 of 2022, had said that “the disbursement shall be supervised and monitored by Justice R Subhash Reddy, former judge of this court, with the able assistance of Gaurav Agarwal, advocate, who is appointed as amicus curiae to assist Justice Reddy as well as the central registrar of cooperative societies.”
In his RTI application, Mr Goel had also sought information about the payments made to justice (retd) Reddy and advocate Agarwal as part of the remuneration for their services. According to the information given, a total amount of Rs1.35 crore has been disbursed to justice (retd.) Reddy following the directions issued by the apex court on 29 March 2023. Notably, advocate Agarwal has not received any payment as he has chosen to respectfully decline the remuneration outlined by the apex court.
The revelations stemming from Mr Goel's RTI application paint a stark picture of the discrepancy between the colossal claims submitted and the meagre payouts disbursed. Despite the government's efforts to streamline the disbursement process through the CRCS refund portal, it appears that the payments have fallen significantly behind. This disjunction raises questions about the effectiveness of the system and the urgency needed to address the concerns of depositors who await their rightful dues.
Last month, the Union government clarified that the death of Sahara group founder and chief Subrata Roy would not impede various ongoing investigations in Sahara group companies. Further, the Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has paid Rs138.07 crore out of Rs15,646.68 crore realised to 17,526 bond-holders of Sahara group companies, Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Ltd (SIRECL), Sahara Housing Investment Corporation Ltd (SHICL), the Lok Sabha was informed.
According to the written reply, SEBI received 19,650 applications in total involving 53,687 accounts. "On the basis of verifiable documents, SEBI made refunds with respect to 17,526 eligible bondholders involving 48,326 accounts for an aggregate amount of Rs138.07 crore, including Rs70.09 crores as principal and Rs67.98 crore as an interest." (
Read: Sahara: Subrata Roy's Death Not To Impede Investigation, Says Govt)
A copy of the RTI application is presented below:
Otherwise RTIs related to this are being disposed off simply!
They are not giving , i have sent , write many times to SEBI, MCA , EVERY DEPARTMENT but they are not responding.
Any suggestions plz.