SC to hear Sahara plea against giving investor details to Sebi

The Supreme Court will tomorrow hear Sahara Group's petition against the orders of the Allahabad High Court, which directed the company to share with market regulator Sebi details of investors participating in its fund raising exercise.

The Supreme Court will tomorrow hear Sahara Group's petition against the orders of the Allahabad High Court, which directed the company to share with market regulator Sebi details of investors participating in its fund raising exercise.

HT Image

The matter will be heard by a 3-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia. On May 2, the apex court had adjourned the matter for a week after the group's investment arm Sahara India Real Estate Corporation sought time to file documents.

The High Court had dismissed Sahara Group plea to vacate its earlier order, which allowed Sebi to collect information on two of its Optionally Fully Convertible Debentures (OFCDs) schemes.

On April 29, the court said the group had not complied with its order to provide the required information for Sebi. "A person, who comes to the court, is supposed to come with clean hands and has to abide by the orders passed by the court, more so in a case where the parties counsel agree for certain action to be undertaken.

"If some assurances is given by any person to the court, as has been done in the present case and the said assurance/undertaking is not honoured, the court would not come to his rescue," the Hight Court had said rejecting Sahara's plea. It was not satisfied with the company's stand that it has handed over two CDs to Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and said, "It would not pursue us to recall our order". Sebi had submitted before the High Court that the CDs had incomplete information.

"The information given was obviously incomplete, but even then it was pressed on behalf of the petitioner (Sahara) that they have given the required information, which cannot be said to be bonafide act on their part for compliance of the court's order," the court said. Two entities of Sahara Group -- Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Limited and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation Ltd -- were raising money from investors through OFCDs. Market regulator Sebi had asked Sahara to share investor details, which was opposed by Sahara.