New Delhi, January 28
The Supreme Court today rejected Sahara group’s two-truckloads of documents showing that it had refunded Rs 22,000 crore to three crore small investors and granted it one final chance to substantiate its claim by producing concise ledger books by February 11.

A Bench comprising Justices KS Radhakrishnan and JS Khehar told senior counsel Ram Jethmalani - who appeared for Sahara - that instead of producing such voluminous documents, which could not be verified easily, the group should either produce bank transactions or ledger entries showing the movement of such huge amounts.

The Bench passed the order after market regulator SEBI’s senior advocate Arvind Datar said that the group had been giving contradictory versions to the SC and the SEBI Appellate Tribunal about the status of its properties and investments.

In its latest affidavit, the group had claimed that it had mobilised the funds for the refund by taking out its investments in various sister concerns but this was not reflected in the account books of the respective entities, Datar said.

Slating the next hearing for February 11, the Bench directed the group to give easily verifiable evidence by then. The court clarified that Sahara chief Subrata Roy and three directors of the group - Vandana Bhargava, Ravi Shankar Dubey and Ashok Roy Choudhary - would not be allowed to leave India till then.

On January 9, the Bench had directed the group to disclose within two weeks the source of Rs 22,000 crore claimed to have been refunded to the small investors or face CBI probe and action by the Registrar of Companies.

“No matter what you do, you have to return the money. If you have already returned it, as claimed by you, show us the source from where you mobilised such a staggering amount,” the Bench had said.

Two Sahara companies - Sahara India Real Estate Corp Ltd (SIREC) and Sahara India Housing Investment Corp Ltd (SHIC) - had raised Rs 22,885 crore from the market through convertible debentures. The SEBI, however, found fault with the fund-raising exercise and directed them to return it. Upholding the SEBI ruling, the SC had directed them to route the refund through SEBI with 15 per cent interest.