Sahara Parivar ordered to refund $4.4bn by Indian Supreme Court

Sahara Parivar, that won a contract from Bangladesh to carry out a mega land project in Dhaka, faced fines by Indian Supreme Court last week. The Supreme Court ruled that Saharas committed a number of economic offences over the past years. The court directed Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Ltd. and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation to give back about $4.4bn to 2.21 crore depositors through an optimally fully convertible debentures. Why would Bangladeshi people trust this group when they have committed offences with their own people - Indians. 

The court also ordered Saharas to provide details with supporting documents whether it already refunded any of the cash to the people. The bench said in a statement that “We make it clear that if the documents produced by Saharas are not found genuine or acceptable … the SEBI (WTM) will proceed as if Saharas had not refunded any amount to the real and genuine subscribers who had invested money through the RHPs”.

Justice Khehar in a separate judgment said that “It seems the two companies collected money from investors without any sense of responsibility to maintain records pertaining to funds received. It is not easy to overlook that the financial transactions under reference are not akin to transactions of a street hawker or cigarette retail made from a wooden cabin. The present controversy involves contributions which approximate Rs. 40,000 crore, allegedly collected from the poor rural inhabitants of India. Despite restraint, one is compelled to record that the whole affair seems to be doubtful, dubious and questionable. Money transactions are not expected to be casual, certainly not in the manner expressed by the two companies.”

Sahara's poor track record will not help them have a footing in Bangladesh, no matter how the ruling party makes doors for the group. In the era of free flowing information, Bangladeshis, interested in purchasing property or housing from Sahara, must research well before making the final call.  

Source of the main news: The Hindu