PRCI awarded Shri Abhijit Sarkar with the coveted Chanakya Jury’s Special Award 2015

 Public Relations Council of India (PRCI), the ace body of Communications and PR professionals awarded Shri Abhijit Sarkar, Head – Corporate Communications & Director-Sahara Adventure Sports Limited, Sahara India Pariwar, with the coveted Chanakya Jury’s Special Award 2015 for his exemplary work in the field of Sports Communications. Shri JualOram, Union Minister of Tribal Affairs, Govt. of India presented the award to Shri Abhijit Sarkar, in a glittering ceremony held at New Delhi on 13^th March, 2015.

 This award is an eloquent manifestation of the fact that Shri Abhijit Sarkar, is probably the only sports management expert in the country who has so effectively contributed to sports in India, across the board. His exceptional efforts in bringing together Corporate for promoting sports in India from regional, national and international level not only took sports like cricket to greater heights but also brought excellence in those sports which are less popular and require infrastructural and financial support and there is hardly any sport left in the country where his efforts and encouragement have not been recognized. His outstanding contribution to Indian sports is also evident from the fact that he is the Co-Chairman of FICCI Sports Committee for the past two years and also a member of the prestigious Sports Committee of CII for last three years. He has also been the Convener of Publicity & Media Sub Committee of the XIX Commonwealth Games, 2010.

 For his contribution in the field of Sports and Corporate Communication in general and Public Relations in specific, he has been awarded with the ‘Most Dynamic Corporate Communications Professional of the Year’ in the Power brands Hall of Fame Awards in London 2011. He has also been conferred with Indy’s Excellence Award 2008 in the field of Corporate Communications, Crises Management and PR and ‘Communicator of the Year” award 2011 by IPRCCA, ‘Chanakya Corporate Communication Professional of the Year’ by Public Relations Council of India.

 Additionally, Mr. Sarkar’s unparalleled expertise and leadership in the field of sports have also accorded him vital positions in various sports bodies. He is Director - Sahara Adventure Sports Limited, Director – Sahara Force India (India’s only Formula One team), Director – U.P. Wizards (U.P. Franchise team of Hockey India League), Director – Ranchi Rays (Ranchi Franchise team of Hockey India League), Director – Awadhe Warriors (Lucknow Franchise team of Indian Badminton League), and Director – Sahara Warriors (Sahara’s Polo team). His charm and dignity made him a personal favorite of nearly all the eminent sportspersons who always consider him as their indispensable support.

It was in consideration of his deep understanding of the nuances of media and sports, vast experience and expertise in the area of communications and Sports Management that he was appointed as a Convener – Publicity & Media Sub Committee of the XIX Commonwealth Games, 2010. For the same, Sahara eventually received Gold Award under the category of ‘Public Service Campaign’ by the Public Relation Council of India in 2011.

Mr. Abhijit Sarkar has played pivotal role in cementing Sahara’s inseparable association with Sports, for the past 15 years, whether it is the Sahara Cup in Canada, Sponsorship of the Indian Cricket Team for 14 years, Indian Hockey Team, Indian Women Cricket team, Indian Volley ball team or playing a pivotal role in Sahara’s association with Hockey, Boxing, Wrestling, Archery, Shooting, Football, Golf, Polo, and other sports disciplines. Besides, being the most visible face of Corporate Communications professionals in India, he also happens to be one of the tremendously successful in taking Indian sports to the next level. Under Mr. Sarkar’s visionary guidance Sahara is supporting 73 Sports person out of which 5 had won medals in London Olympics 2012.

 Having bestowed upon with multitudinous tasks in running Sahara’s IPL Pune franchisee – Pune Warriors India, as director Mr. Sarkar lead the IPL team for three consecutive years and played a decisive role in getting the coveted franchisee for Sahara.

Moreover, Mr. Sarkar has been instrumental in developing and executing various well acclaimed international and national events like Sahara India Sports Awards (SISA) – the one-of-its-kind platform to honor the sporting legends. The ‘Sahara India Sports Award’ won Silver Award under the category of ‘Corporate Event’ by the Public Relation Council of India, 2011.

Since the early days to the present day, Sahara’s association with Indian Cricket has traveled a long journey of significant milestones that deserved to be chronicled. The story of the rise of Indian Cricket team as a cricketing super power during the course of Sahara India Pariwar’s long association not only needs to be told but also preserved for the future generation of the cricket lovers.

 In the same context, Mr. Sarkar came with a up concept of preparing a Coffee Table Book, ‘The Golden Era’, which is a sumptuous tribute to Cricket and commemorates Sahara’s glorious association with Indian cricket in a form of book that spans from Natwest Trophy win in 2002 which is considered a turning point in Indian cricket after, of course, the 1983 World Cup triumph to India’s recent home series against South Africa. The book has number of sections with brief bios on each of the recent great cricketers. The book was conceptualized, ideated and produced under the guidance of Mr. Abhijit Sarkar.

In addition to this, he was instrumental in bagging the coveted franchisee of Uttar Pradesh in 2012 for the Hockey India League. Spearheading the U.P. Franchisee, he added another feather in his cap by adding another franchisee, Ranchi Rays in 2014, in the Hockey India League, which Sahara co-owns with cricketing legend, M.S. Dhoni.

 Besides, he played a major role when Sahara announced its co-ownership in India’s only formula One Team with Dr. Vijay Mallya. Not only India, he expanded the horizon of Sahara’s association with sports beyond a nation, when Sahara bagged the official sponsorship of Bangladesh Cricket team in 2012.

Statement from Sahara Counsels Ayush Chaudhary & Abhinav Mani Tripathi

We are thankful to the Hon’ble Court for giving us permission to raise funds via mortgage and sale of certain properties. Looking at the magnitude of the transactions involved, the Hon’ble Court has allowed us 90 days time to work from the conference room within Tihar Jail court premises, extending the facilities of video conferencing and meeting with various parties.

Apart from the mortgage of the three foreign properties, court has also allowed sale of ten domestic properties and a land parcel of Aamby Valley City. We are in a very advanced stage with many parties and shall execute these deals at the earliest. We have already deposited nearly Rs.4, 000/- crores in the ‘Sahara-SEBI Account’ and we shall be very shortly depositing the remaining amount along with the Bank Guarantee.

Sahara Counsel

Ayush Chaudhary & Abhinav Mani Tripathi

Press Note from Sahara’s Lawyer Shri Gautam Awasthi

Rupees 40,000 Crores dues issue is wild imagination of media

Sahara’s Rs. 12,000 Crores are already with SEBI

1. Sahara says that report of Due amount of Rs 40,000 Cr is incorrect, since such amount or such observation was never made during the course of hearing either by the Counsel appearing for SEBI or by the Hon’ble Court or any other Counsel. The figure of Rs. 40000 Cr. is imaginary and same amounts to irresponsible reporting of Court proceedings. There is no pleading or any document in the Court record which mentioned the figure of Rs. 40000 Cr. The order dictated in the open Court on 13.03.2015 also does not bear this figure and therefore, these amounts to incorrect reporting of Court proceedings which further dented the image of Mr. Roy and two directors in the public eye.

2.In fact, the Court very fairly stated that amount payable was subject to verification and after verification all excess amount would be refunded Back to Sahara.

3.There is no observation pertaining to the reporting of one month to save group by the Hon’ble Court, same is misconceived.

As a matter of fact, the Hon’ble Court observed during the proceeding to Mr. Kapil Sibal, Senior Advocate that the outhouse facility along with secretarial staff etc. can be extended even up to “two months” provided a concrete proposal is put forward as far as the satisfaction of the bail bond of rest of the amount of about 6000 Cr. is concerned. Please note that Sahara’s two companies are asked to provide proposal for complying with the remaining amount out of bail amount of Rs. 5,000 Cr cash and Rs. 5,000 Cr. as bank guarantee and not for any imagery figure of Rs. 40,000 Cr. The period of 2 month was observed by the Hon’ble Court when Mr. Sibal requested for 8 weeks outhouse facility to finalize the transaction to satisfy the bail bond amount of Rs. 10,000 Cr. as ordered by the Hon’ble Court on 26.03.2014.

Therefore, the figure of 4 weeks as reported in the article is incorrect since Mr. Sibal sought 8 weeks’ time and not 4 weeks. Same is clarified to that extent.

4.The news represented that an ultimatum was given whereas the order passed by the Hon’ble Court makes it clear that the Hon’ble Court accepted the request of not appointing a Receiver since Mr. Sibal stated that a serious attempt has been made for finalizing a deal of which the documents will be provided to the Amicus Curiae and the Counsel for SEBI. This acceptance of the request was also noted in the order dated 13.03.2015. As a matter of fact, Mr. Sibal stated that the situation of appointment of a Receiver may not arise if an opportunity is given. There is nothing mentioned in the order passed on 13.03.2015 about any ultimatum and therefore same amounts to incorrect reporting and same is clarified to that extent.

5.The Hon’ble Court extended the facility of communication up to 5 hours a day to Mr. Roy and two directors of Sahara’s two companies, inside the jail premises which was not reported in the article. Further, jail authorities were also directed to facilitate Mr. Roy and two directors with two laptops for functioning which was also not reported in the article.

6.During the hearing, SEBI was directed to file an affidavit clarifying its stand when a letter was indicated to the Hon’ble Court by Mr. Sibal that a communication was issued to HDFC Bank by SEBI on 19.12.2013 that the order dated 21.11.2013 only applies to specific movable and immovable properties in a particular application, therefore, RBI has no cause of action to state that there was a violation by Sahara India Financial Corporation Limited of the order passed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court on 21.11.2013 and 04.06.2014.

7.Further, Mr. Sibal fairly stated during hearing that about Rs. 12,000 Cr. stands deposited with SEBI as on date out of which barely anything was disbursed by SEBI. The Hon’ble Court also made it clear that it will be open to argue on that issue at a later stage. However, the article in the front page of the newspaper reported that only Rs. 5,120 Cr. was deposited whereas nearly Rs. 12,000 Cr. stands deposited with SEBI as on date. Same is clarified to that extent.

Sahara Employees' Salaries Overdue Following Liquidity Crunch

Sahara's conflict with Sebi over investor repayments has begun to effect salaries of the group's employees, which are getting overdue because of a major liquidity crunch. Majorly corporate offices of the crisis-hit group are facing salary delays. Even day-to-day petty operating expenses and statutory payments are getting due. A Sahara spokesperson said "We are working to diffuse this crisis, which has also created grave difficulties for our employees. Sahara India is one big Pariwar (family) and all the employees are its members, who are standing together in these difficult times." The company has a total of 10 lakh employees, which include permanent and part time employees and agents. An exact number of salaries overdue was hard to summate but it has been estimated to go up to "tens of thousands".

Sahara is also working hard to raise money for getting its chief, Subrata Roy, and two of its officials released from imprisonment from Tihar jail, where they have been for an year now. The spokesperson said that Sahara is facing liquidity crunch for a year now due to restriction and double payment of investor refund. This has led to delays in salaries and other operating obligations and expenses. He added, "We are however releasing the salaries time to time based on the fund flow on a continuous basis. The delayed salaries of junior staff were released just a few days back as extra care has been taken for our junior staff. Soon salaries of other brackets will be released." He also said that the companies which have their own fund-flow are in a better situation to pay salaries without much delay. These include their luxury hotel Sahara Star in Mumbai, resort town Aamby Valley City and the 500-bed tertiary care Sahara Hospital in Lucknow.

Sahara still maintains that it has repaid more than 95 percent of its investors directly. But the group was asked by the Supreme Court in August 2011 to deposit over Rs 24,000 crore with Sebi for refund to investors. The spokesperson added that "any fund raised by the group, which we are doing, through sales and mortgaging of properties, that money shall go to Sahara-Sebi account and nothing will come to the corporate". And he said that the payment to Sebi is a double payment for them. Sahara till today has already deposited Rs 11,000 crore (including interest) with Sebi. The spokesperson also said that "Sahara's two Companies in question collected Rs 25,780 crore through OFCD (Optionally Fully Convertible Debenture) schemes. Of this, Sahara repaid almost 95 per cent (around Rs 23,000 crore) of OFCD liabilities of these two companies by 2012."

Recent attempts by Sahara to raise funds through a US-based company Mirach Capital failed. The group said it is now in talks with a European bank and a Dutch pension fund and some other entities to raise funds for Subrata Roy's release.

SEBI versus Sahara: Rs. 22 crores versus Rs. 18000 crores

Sebi has around Rs.11, 500 crores of Sahara's money, including bank interest.

By the time Saharasri Subrata Roy shall come out, that is, when full bail amount is paid, Money of Sahara India Pariwar Company lying with Sebi will be Rs.18, 000 crores cash.  Since no bank is ready to give Bank Guarantee to Sahara India Pariwar without 100% cash margin, it is going to be Rs.18, 000 crores of cash with Sebi.

While in the last 26 months, Sebi had to pay only around Rs.2 crores. More importantly, Sebi came out with an All-India Media Advertisement, twice, inviting investors for repayments. But till now, they have received from all over India, a demand of Rs.20 crores only. A question can now arise that whether the investors exist or do not exist; meaning, are these all fictitious accounts?

Only verification can clarify this point, as mandated in Hon'ble Court's order of 2012. Since then, in almost past 26 months, Sebi has not started verification; the reason best known to them.

About fictitious account, it must be mentioned here another issue pertaining to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) which is as follows:

Between 2008 and 2012, on RBI's order, Sahara paid back Rs.18, 000 crores under the command of RBI's two Statutory Auditors and 3 RBI nominated Directors.  The bank account of that amount was controlled by the RBI.  A strict rule was followed that when RBI auditors finally checked the identity of all investors (KYC), only then the next months' payments were all owed by the RBI and during the process, in 4 years, RBI did not find any fictitious account; not even one.

Manohar Parrikar is Disturbed at Subrata Roy's long incarceration

said Manohar Parrikar Defence Minister of India and then Chief Minister of Goa, while speaking at the concluding session of the 16th All India whips conference in Goa

Sahara : Statement of Advocate Gautam Awasthi on 28th November 2014

The Sahara had filed applications seeking permission of the Hon’ble Supreme Court for taking over of the loan of Bank of China relating to three foreign properties. The Sahara will also be raising a loan of US$650 million on the foreign properties for being utilized for the payment in SEBI-Sahara Refund Account in compliance of the order dated 26.3.2014.

The court, on the insistence of SEBI, has asked Sahara to show the ESCROW agreement with respect to the junior loan of US$650million and once SEBI gives a no objection and the money is transferred in the ESCROW account, the Hon’ble Court will permit the taking over of the loan from Bank of China and raising of the junior loan.

The Hon’ble Supreme Court was also shown the agreements of sale with respect to domestic properties. The SEBI, however, has sought time to submit its response regarding the proposed sale of domestic properties at Chomma, Jodhpur, Vasai and Pune.

The Sahara have demonstrated that in addition to Rs 3,117 crore already deposited, the balance amount for compliance of the order dated 26.3.2014 have been arranged and once necessary permissions are granted by the court, the money will reach SEBI in a phased manner. The Hon’ble Supreme Court has now listed the matter for Tuesday, 2^nd December 2014.

Gautam Awasthi

Advocate

Ref: http://www.newspatrolling.com/statement-of-advocate-gautam-awasthi-on-28th-november-2014/

Ex-RBI official, Sebi men and ROC officer under CBI scanner

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has zeroed in on at least four senior officials, including two of market regulator Sebi and a retired manager of the Reserve Bank of India, for their alleged role in laundering huge amounts of money in the multi-crore Saradha financial scam.

The agency, which has already made two arrests in connection with the ponzi scheme in West Bengal — East Bengal Club executive member Debabrata Sarkar on Wednesday and businessman Sandhir Agarwal on Saturday — had put the said officials, all from regulatory organisations, under the scanner. The investigation against them is now at an advanced stage.

Significantly, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is probing into the money laundering aspect of the scam, had found several “serious irregularities” in the functioning of these officials.

The ED had also interrogated these four along with several others. They include a retired RBI manager, a top official in the Registrar of Companies, Kolkata, and two Sebi officials. They are accused of “lapses”, and investigators revealed that they “compromised on their official responsibility” and had allegedly accepted huge “bribes” to look the other way. Sources in the CBI said the agency has collected proof about their involvement.

Earlier CBI sleuths during raids across several locations across the country, had seized documents that showed how certain officials tried to cover up the business of Saradha Group chief Sudipta Sen.

For instance, in 2009, 140 companies of Saradha Group were registered with the ROC, Kolkata in a span of four days. Significantly, more than 50 of these 140 companies were registered on a Saturday, revealed a senior official of Union finance ministry. Officially, the ROC is closed on Saturday.

“RBI and Sebi are equally responsible (for the scam). While Sebi officers were sitting on the Saradha files, RBI did not inspect the company even though it has the power to do so. The vigilance commission in Sebi has already conducted an internal inquiry into the malpractices of some of its officers. A report has been submitted to both the ED and the CBI,” the official said.

He added that the ROC, Kolkata also played a major role in the scam. “Every year, ROC used to receive the balance sheets of the company. They should have identified the irregularities… Most of the balance sheets of the company are now found to be fake and mostly with manipulated data,” he said.

- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/business/business-others/ex-rbi-official-sebi-men-and-roc-officer-under-cbi-scanner-in-saradha-scam/#sthash.tztFxdCG.dpuf

Is Really Big Companies Like Sahara, DLF are Culprit

Everyone loves it when a regulator acts tough against large corporations. So when the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) banned DLF Ltd and six senior officials, including its chairman and founder, it expectedly won plaudits. Shekhar Gupta, a senior journalist, tweeted, “Sahara, now DLF, Sebi stature grows…”

However, Sebi’s conduct in the DLF case has been vastly different compared with its handling of Sahara. It took more than seven years to pass its judgement. During this time, the original complainant against DLF, K.K. Sinha, was forced to take Sebi to court alleging “deliberate inaction”. Besides, the Delhi high court castigated the regulator on more than one occasion for dragging its feet on the case.

 And while many have been enamoured by the ‘housewives’ plot allegedly used by DLF to hide its association with some subsidiaries, as shown in Sebi’s order, the truth is that Sinha informed the Delhi high court about this way back in September 2008.

 For some perspective, Sinha first sent a complaint directly to Sebi, alleging that DLF hadn’t disclosed an ongoing litigation between him and a DLF subsidiary in its initial public offering (IPO) prospectus. Sebi’s order suggests that this complaint was forwarded to DLF for its response. The developer, obviously, denied the allegations, saying that the said company wasn’t a subsidiary.

 Because of Sebi’s inaction at the time, Sinha filed a writ petition before the Delhi high court in 2007. Some of Sebi’s arguments during the hearing of this case are worth noting. Sebi objected that since the petitioner was not an investor in the securities market, he had no locus standi to file the petition. It also contended that since the subsidiary company in question was an unlisted company, it wasn’t amenable to the Sebi regulations and guidelines. Note that in the Sahara case, Sebi took the exact opposite stand, which is that it acted against an unlisted company.

Sebi didn’t exactly cover itself with glory with those statements, and the high court judge observed, “In the instant case, as the facts reveal, Sebi was inexplicably slow in reacting to the petitioner’s complaints. Its subsequent failure to initiate further steps to investigate the transaction in question was also not consistent with its statutory obligation.” In his judgement in April 2010, the judge directed Sebi to undertake an investigation into the complaints made by Sinha.

Although it dithered on the DLF case, Sebi has done well to bring closure to the case (although, of course, it will now be fought at the Securities Appellate Tribunal and perhaps, even the Supreme Court). But it should go further and look at the role of investment bankers and other related issues. To stop at only Sinha’s complaint will be quite an inadequate response, considering all that its investigations have unearthed thus far.

For more info : http://www.livemint.com/Money/HEzLkPp0o1LgcEaUNLlHML/Sebi-Reluctant-hero-in-the-DLF-case.html

Parrikar 'disturbed' at Subrata Roy's long incarceration

Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar Tuesday used the plight of Sahara group chief Subrata Roy to illustrate his reservation against codification of privileges of parliamentarians and legislators.

Parrikar, speaking at the concluding session of the 16th All India Whips Conference at a south Goa resort, said that he was "slightly disturbed" at the manner in which Roy was put behind bars by the apex court for a long duration for judicial contempt.

"While I support everything, I have my own reservations about your codification. Why... I will tell you. For how many months has the Supreme Court thrown Subroto Roy in jail? For a democrat like me, I am slightly disturbed. I do not understand the strong gravity of that," Parrikar said.

"I have read Krishna Iyer's (former SC judge V.R. Krishna Iyer) judgment... he says... that a person cannot be kept inside without proper process. The only process probably there (in Roy's case) is Supreme Court's contempt of court. Has parliament questioned that and summoned the person to answer. So how do you allow assembly or parliament's privilege to be questioned (by) the judiciary," Parrikar argued, while expressing his reservation for codification of process.

Roy has been incarcerated at Delhi's Tihar Jail for nearly six months for contempt of court after he repeatedly failed to appear at apex court hearings in connection with a case involving security regulators vis-à-vis $4 billion convertible bond issue.

The Goa chief minister contended that if judicial contempt is beyond parliamentary control, its reverse should also be true.

Over 100 lawmakers attending the conference have recommended that codification of privileges should be considered by each legislative body in the state to remove uncertainty and with a view to address the anxieties of the people and the press.

4,600 Sahara investors claim refund from Sebi

Around 4,600 investors in two Sahara group companies have come forward to claim refunds from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), which had asked those who had purchased bonds issued by the entities to claim their money. Sources familiar with the development told TOI that the average claim is to the tune of Rs 20,000, resulting in a total demand of under Rs 10 crore.

The low demand will bolster Sahara's argument before courts that it had repaid most of the investors who had come forward to claim the investment they had made in bonds issued by two group companies — Sahara India Real Estate Corp (SIRECL) and Sahara Housing Investment Corp (SHICL).

In August, Sebi had asked investors to submit refund applications with documentary proof by September 30. The regulator has begun the process of issuing refunds, the sources said.

Sebi and Sahara have been involved in a bitter battle over the past few years, related to alleged irregular fund-raising to the tune of Rs 24,000 crore from three crore investors.

Sahara has maintained that it has cleared over 90% of the outstanding amount and paid directly to the bondholders, and the remaining amount added up to around Rs 2,500 crore. Following SC orders, it had deposited Rs 5,120 crore to Sebi in December 2012, while another Rs 3,100 crore was deposited this June.

Sahara chief Subrata Roy has been in Tihar Jail for the past six months after the company failed to raise the Rs 10,000 crore required to secure the bail, which the court is insisting on to repay investors.

The company has tried to sell and mortgage its iconic hotel properties in the US and UK but the efforts are yet to bear fruit. Roy was given permission to use a temporary facility in the jail premises to pursue sale of the hotels but has now been ordered to return to barracks.

Sebi had earlier sought to get the list of investors but made little headway as a truckload of documents reached its Mumbai office. It had also tried to contact investors directly earlier as well but got few responses.

Reference link: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/4600-Sahara-investors-claim-refund-from-Sebi/articleshow/44765138.cms

Subrata Roy Sahara: Legal debate over Roy’s detention gathers pace

It's been over six months that Subrata Roy, the flamboyant chief of Sahara, has been in Delhi's Tihar jail. In the meantime, the hopes of his release have risen and ebbed. And as the days go by, it is becoming uncertain when he will be able to furnish Rs 10,000 crore to Sebi — a pre-condition set by the Supreme Court for his release. 

Company sources say that it's not that the company doesn't have the money. The issue is Roy's current predicament. "The entire world knows that he's being forced to make distress sales to raise this amount and so he is getting badly discounted offers for his valuable overseas properties. Now, which businessman wants to sell his jewels at throwaway prices," said a company executive. 

Roy's case — and along with him that of two other Sahara directors, Ashok Roy Choudhury and R S Dubey — has few parallels. Technically, Rs 10,000 crore is not a bail amount; bail was granted to him five months ago, but it came with the pre-condition of him paying Rs 10,000 crore for his release. Legal experts say this is an extraordinary pre-condition. 

There is also lack of clarity about the charges that have been slapped against Roy and the two Sahara directors. If it is contempt of court — Roy refused to appear before the Supreme Court on the given date citing his mother's illness — he has already served the maximum punishment of six months prescribed for the offence. 

"The question to be debated is whether there is a reasonable limit for how long someone can be incarcerated under the present circumstances — or if the six-month limit prescribed under the Contempt of Courts Act applies here," said Gopal Sankaranarayanan, senior advocate, Supreme Court. 

Article 21 of the Constitution deals with an individual's personal liberty. It states, "No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law." 

Some feel that this Article is being violated. Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, "Although currently I am not arguing the case, in my professional opinion, the continued incarceration may well be held to be a violation of his right to life under Article 21 (of Constitution of India) and a fit ground for a curative petition." 

These legal points aside, it is now clear that Roy — about whom company executives say was not an original respondent in this case — will have to pay the amount as ordered by the Supreme Court. The question is whether he should be kept in prison until he coughs up with Rs 10,000 crore, or should he be released with due safeguards, allowed to negotiate the best terms for sale of assets, and told to pay the amount within a set deadline. 

Roy has been in Tihar jail, under judicial custody, since March 4 this year. In early August, Roy was given a 10 working days to negotiate sale or lease of Sahara group's hotel properties to raise the Rs 10,000-crore bail amount. According to people within the group, he has been making 'relentless efforts to sell the properties' in order to meet the criterion set forth by the apex court, 'which shows his bonafide intention to comply with the orders passed by the court'.

Reference Link: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Legal-debate-over-Roys-detention-gathers-pace/articleshow/44661645.cms

Sahara Case Proceeding : Gautam Awasthi Thanked Supremecourt

Statement of Advocate Gautam Awasthi on yesterday’s Supreme Court Proceedings

               

Today, we are extremely thankful to our Hon’ble Judges who have opened the path after 5 months for Saharasree to reintroduce him and his presence in the work sphere. He never could get a chance to talk to anybody. Here in the jail, Subrata Roy Sahara used to get only 35 minutes and additional few calls at times in a week.

Actually from today only the business is starting to fulfill the direction of Hon’ble Court though these are all double payments.

So, on 22nd July, 2014, we got the permission for mortgage and sale of overseas assets and today on 1st August, 2014, we are going to get the support of all kinds of communications round the clock with office staff and technical support.

Since all the assets, every Rupee, every inch of all immovable properties, every gram of movable properties were under absolute embargo no payment in compliance of order dated 26th March, 2014 could have been made. Immediately after lifting of embargo on Bank account etc. things have started improving from beginning of June and consequently a substantial part of the cash payment of Rs.5000 crores could be deposited.

Sahara thanks apex court for asset de-freeze

 

The Sahara Group has thanked the Supreme Court for lifting the freeze on its moveable and immovable assets so that it can raise the Rs.10,000 crore for part payment of dues, but also said it had repaid the bulk of money owed to investors.

"We are very thankful we got clearance of bank accounts and certain select properties," Sudeep Seth, Sahara's lawyer, said in a statement on the behalf of the group after the Supreme Court gave it the go-ahead on Wednesday for sale of its assets in India.

"However, the fact remains that Sahara has already repaid 93 percent of the investors, mostly in cash, and has submitted all repayment vouchers receipts and other documents in original with SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India), which SEBI has to verify."

The group said the actual repayment that was pending amounted to just Rs.2,500 crore and that there was not even a single complaint against Sahara. The group also claimed that Rs.5,600 crore of its money was already lying with the markets watchdog.

"Of course, all the money shall ultimately come back to Sahara after verifications."

De-freezing the assets of Sahara on Wednesday, an apex court bench of Justice T.S. Thakur and Justice A.K. Sikri also directed that the money so generated would have to be deposited in an account opened by the regulator.

Soon after the judgment, senior counsel Srinivasan Ganesh asked the court to grant five days' parole to Sahara Group chief Subrata Roy to be with his ailing mother. 

Reference URL: http://www.indiatvnews.com/news/india/sahara-thanks-apex-court-for-asset-de-freeze-37681.html

Sahara Career Thon - Sahara group lines up Rs 32,400 cr investment; 56k new jobs

Sahara group, whose legal battle with Sebi continues in Supreme Court over refund of over Rs 20,000 crore to investors, has made a surprise announcement of plans being afoot to hire over 56,000 new employees this year along with investments to the tune of nearly Rs 32,400 crore.

In three-page newspaper advertisements, the group has invited applications for senior positions across business verticals within and outside country and said that these more than 56,000 new jobs need to be filled by the end of 2014.

In three-page newspaper advertisements, the group has invited applications for senior positions across business verticals within and outside country and said that these more than 56,000 new jobs need to be filled by the end of 2014.

At the same time, it has also claimed that the group, which calls itself Sahara India Parivar, is "committed to creating four lakh salaried positions in next three years".

The businesses for which job applications have been invited include FMCG & retail, dairy, poultry, luxury real estate and lifestyle, food factory, low-cost housing, CSR, education and even cruises (Sahara Water Homes).

The businesses for which job applications have been invited include FMCG & retail, dairy, poultry, luxury real estate and lifestyle, food factory, low-cost housing, CSR, education and even cruises (Sahara Water Homes).

Besides job details, the group also disclosed specific investment targets for at least four business verticals and these investments total to an amount of Rs 32,394 crore.

For its 'Luxury Retail: Sahara Global Mastercraft Ltd' business, the group said that an investment of Rs 1,400 crore would be made over five years, while Rs 5,172 crore would be invested in Food & Beverages and Entertainment: QSR (Quick Service Restaurants).

Its 'International Business: Macedonia (Europe)' business is expected to see an investment of Rs 13,922 crore in dairy project and Rs 9,600 crore in hospitality project.

Further, healthcare would seen an investment of Rs 2,300 crore for 5-7 years, according to the public notice.

The group also claimed a huge asset base with a market value of "Rs 1,52,518 crore" and a land bank of 36,631 acres.

This massive recruitment drive comes at a time when the group is caught in a legal battle with Sebi, which had charged it of raising over Rs 24,000 crore through various "illegalities" in issuance of certain bonds through two firms.

These two firms -- Sahara India Real Estate Corp Ltd (SIREC) and Sahara India Housing Investment Corp Ltd (SHIC)-- were asked to refund the money to investors, while the Supreme Court also asked the group to comply with Sebi orders.

Sahara group later deposited Rs 5,120 crore with Sebi and claimed that it was way above the outstanding amount due to be returned to investors as more than Rs 20,000 crore were already refunded directly.

The Supreme Court has refused to allow Sahara Group chief Subrata Roy to leave the country till the companies provide details of refunding Rs 20,000 crore to investors.

The apex court last week asked the group to furnish all the documents to reveal the source of Rs 22,885 crore which it claims to have refunded to the investors.

Besides, the group was directed to place all documents including the bank statements sought by Sebi before February 11 when the court would take up the case for further hearings.

Sahara group, whose legal battle with Sebi continues in Supreme Court over refund of over Rs 20,000 crore to investors, has made a surprise announcement of plans being afoot to hire over 56,000 new employees this year along with investments to the tune of nearly Rs 32,400 crore.

In three-page newspaper advertisements, the group has invited applications for senior positions across business verticals within and outside country and said that these more than 56,000 new jobs need to be fil ..

Read more at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/29761145.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Sahara group, whose legal battle with Sebi continues in Supreme Court over refund of over Rs 20,000 crore to investors, has made a surprise announcement of plans being afoot to hire over 56,000 new employees this year along with investments to the tune of nearly Rs 32,400 crore.

In three-page newspaper advertisements, the group has invited applications for senior positions across business verticals within and outside country and said that these more than 56,000 new jobs need to be fil ..

Read more at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/29761145.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Sahara group, whose legal battle with Sebi continues in Supreme Court over refund of over Rs 20,000 crore to investors, has made a surprise announcement of plans being afoot to hire over 56,000 new employees this year along with investments to the tune of nearly Rs 32,400 crore.

In three-page newspaper advertisements, the group has invited applications for senior positions across business verticals within and outside country and said that these more than 56,000 new jobs need to be fil ..

Read more at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/29761145.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst