Paper Details

Name: Abhishek Srivastava, Sanjeev Kumar Chadha
Country: India

Year: 2026
Volume: Volume-13, Issue-1 (January-June)
Page Number: 410-424
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20677107

Sahara India refund case is one of the longest cases ever in Indian legal and financial history where investors interest was required to be protected. The Supreme Court of India in March 2023 mandated the funds of ₹5,000 crore from the Sahara-SEBI Refund Account was transferred to the Central Registrar of Cooperative. The societies (CRCS) were established for repayment to the depositors. The CRCS-Sahara Refund Portal was launched on 18 July 2023 to enable the processing of refunds in a systematic way through the UIDAI-Aadhaar linked manner. However, as of December 2025, only ₹6,841.86 crore has been disbursed to 35.44 lakh verified depositors who had applied for 1.41 crore times. The investor base is more than 54.2 lakh and the total estimates deposits are at ₹1,13,504 crore. To achieve this disbursement rate of ₹115 crore per month, it will take over 77 years to complete. This paper points to systemic, institutional and structural barriers that underline the issue of repayment to the depositors. Mandatory Aadhaar verification put on the backs of pre-digital depositors, weak administrative structure, capacity of CRCS, failure of local Sahara agents and deep rural digital divide are the main obstacles that hinder the adoption of the new technology. This paper suggests a blended model of redress based on practicalities and legal analysis of the Companies Act 2013, SEBI Act 1992, Multi- State Cooperative Societies Act 2002 and Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023, which calls for the Incorporation of hybrid system including Infrastructure, nodal officer and a monthly progress audit (localised physical presence) and digital verification. If such measures had been adopted the Supreme Court's role as a protector of investors could continue to be as much a fantasy as a reality.