The corporate affairs ministry has strengthened its surveillance mechanism over companies raising funds from the public as also on their end-use in the wake of the Supreme Court verdict on the Sahara group.

Finding violations of regulatory norms in raising funds from the public, the Supreme Court last month directed two Sahara firms to refund about Rs. 24,000 crore to the investors within three months with an annual interest of 15%.

Following the apex court order, the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) has directed all registrars of companies (RoCs) to strengthen their surveillance activities, sources said.

“In the wake of the Sahara case, internally, we have asked the RoCs to strengthen their activities. We are also looking at the possibility of whether other companies too had raised funds from the public in violation of the regulatory framework,” a senior official said.