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Pinak Pani Mohanty vs. Union of India (W.P.(C) No. 191 of 2022, I.A. No. 56308 of 2023)

Not available · 2023 INSC 320Decided 29 Mar 2023
Not available
M.R. Shah · C.T. Ravikumar

Background

This order arose out of an application filed by the Union of India (Ministry of Cooperation) within a pending writ petition concerning refunds to depositors of the Sahara Group of Cooperative Societies. About Rs. 24,979.67 crores lay unutilized in the "Sahara-SEBI Refund Account," money earlier deposited with SEBI under Court directions by Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Ltd. and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation Ltd. The Union sought a direction to transfer Rs. 5,000 crores from this fund to pay genuine depositors of Sahara Group Cooperative Societies, since part of the pooled amount (Rs. 2,253 crores) had originally come from the Sahara Credit Cooperative Society itself.

Decision Breakdown

The Court, after hearing the Solicitor General, accepted that the request was reasonable and in the larger public interest of genuine depositors. It directed that Rs. 5,000 crores be transferred from the Sahara-SEBI Refund Account to the Central Registrar of Cooperative Societies for disbursement to legitimate depositors, in a transparent manner, only after proper identification and proof of deposit, paid directly into depositors' bank accounts. The disbursement process was to be supervised by a retired Supreme Court judge (Justice R. Subhash Reddy) assisted by an amicus curiae, with disbursal to be completed within nine months, after which any leftover amount would revert to the Sahara-SEBI Refund Account. Honorariums were fixed for the supervising judge and amicus.

Lesson Learnt

Even in large-scale financial-fraud recovery matters, the Supreme Court can use its continuing supervisory jurisdiction to redirect court-held funds toward genuine victims through a transparent, judge-monitored disbursement mechanism rather than leaving recovered money idle.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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