The Supreme Court of India has authorized the disbursement of ₹5,000 crore from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)-Sahara refund account to repay depositors of the Sahara Group of Cooperative Societies.

The decision, made by a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi on Friday, follows a similar order in 2023, and extends the deadline for the disbursal of funds to December 31, 2026. This extension also applies to the ₹5,000 crore allocated in 2023.

The ₹5,000 crore will be transferred from the SEBI-Sahara Refund Account to the Central Registrar of Cooperative Societies, who is tasked with disbursing the funds to genuine depositors after verification. The transfer is to be completed within a week, under the supervision of former Supreme Court judge Justice R Subhash Reddy, and in accordance with the procedures outlined in the court's March 2023 order.

This order was passed after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta requested an extension of time for releasing payments to investors until December 31, 2026, encompassing amounts released under both the March 2023 order and the current directive. The court had previously set the deadline as December 31, 2025.

The Sahara Group had deposited ₹24,979.67 crore in connection with raising funds through bonds. In March 2023, the Supreme Court directed that this amount be transferred to the Central Registrar of Cooperative Societies for disbursement to legitimate depositors of the Sahara Group of Cooperative Societies in a transparent manner.

The Centre had filed an application in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Pinak Pani Mohanty, seeking a direction to pay the amount to depositors who invested in chit fund companies and Sahara credit firms. According to the Centre, the total amount claimed by depositors is ₹1,13,504.124 crore from approximately 5.43 crore investors, with refunds of ₹5,053.01 crore already issued to 26,25,090 genuine depositors.