Order by:

Smt. Priti Malhotra, President

1.       By this order, we will dispose of this consumer complaint. The facts gathered from the record are as under:-

The complainant’s case, in nutshell, is that on being allured by the scheme launched by the Opposite Parties, he deposited his hard earned money with them in the shape of Fixed Deposit Receipts for 12 months on interest basis for Sahara Y Select Plan, the detail of which is as follows:-

Further as per the terms and conditions of the FDRs, after completion of 12 months from the date of opening of account, maturity shall be paid to the Member Account Holder alongwith the interest as per the Account Settlement Chart and in this way, the said FDRs were matured on 16.01.2017 and on maturity date, the amount payable to the complainant comes to Rs.76,300/-. Since on the maturity date, the Opposite Parties were bound to make the maturity amount of the hard money of the complainant. After the maturity date, the complainant made various requests to the Opposite Parties to release the maturity amount deposited by complainant in the shape of FDRs mentioned above. Initially, the Opposite Parties asked the complainant to wait for some months, but later on  the Opposite Parties have been lingering on the matter on one pretext or the other. Later on, they flatly refused to pay any amount to the complainant, as such, there is deficiency in service on the part of the Opposite Parties. Hence, this complaint. Vide instant complaint, the complainant has sought the following reliefs.

a)      Opposite Parties may be directed to make the maturity amount of Rs.76,300/- of the FDRs alongwith future interest  @ 18 % per annum from the date of notice till its actual realization.

b)      The amount of Rs.1,00,000/- be allowed to be paid by the opposite parties on account of compensation due to mental tension and harassment caused by the complainant.

c)       The cost of complaint amounting to Rs.33,000/- may please be allowed.

d)      And any other relief to which this Commission may deem fit be granted in the interest of justice and equity.       

2.       Perusal of the record reveals that despite service of notice, none appeared on behalf of Opposite Party No.1, hence Opposite Party No.1 was proceeded against exparte and notice sent to Opposite Party No.2 received back with the report of postal authority ‘left’.

3.       The complainant’s claim before this Commission is with regard to non-payment of the amounts deposited by way of FDRs in the Sahara Group of Cooperative Societies.

4.       It is apt to mention that during the pendency of present complaint, the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India passed judgement dated 29.03.2023 in I.A. bearing No.56308 of 2023 in Writ Petition(Civil) No.191 of 2022 titled as Pinak Pani Mohanty Versus Union of India and Others with W.P.(C)No.6/2023(X), vide which, all the suits/complaint/execution proceedings qua the present Opposite Parties instituted or pending are held to be determined by the Special Authority constituted vide above said order. For the sake of convenience, the relevant part of the judgement reproduced as under:-

“3.        Having heard Shri Tushar Mehta, learned Solicitor General appearing on behalf of the Union of India and taking into consideration the facts narrated hereinabove and when it is reported that Rs. 2253 Crores had been taken out of the Sahara Credit Cooperative Society Ltd., i.e., one of the four Sahara Group Multi-State Cooperative Societies and deposited with SEBI in the “Sahara-SEBI Refund Account” and the amount lying in the “Sahara-SEBI Refund Account” is lying unutilized and the genuine depositors of the Sahara Group of Cooperative Societies, which otherwise, shall be entitled to get back their money, the prayer sought in the present application seems to be reasonable and which shall be in the larger public interest / interest of the genuine depositors of the Sahara Group of Cooperative Societies. Therefore, the present application stands disposed of with the following directions:-

1.       Out of the total amount of Rs. 24,979.67 Crores lying in the “Sahara-SEBI Refund Account”, Rs. 5000 Crores be transferred to the Central Registrar of Cooperative Societies, who, in turn, shall disburse the same against the legitimate dues of the depositors of the Sahara Group of Cooperative Societies, which shall be paid to the genuine depositors in the most transparent manner and on proper identification and on submitting proof of their deposits and proof of their claims and to be deposited in their respective bank accounts directly.

ii.       The disbursement shall be supervised and monitored by Justice R. Subhash Reddy, Former Judge of this Court with the able assistance of Shri Gaurav Agarwal, learned Advocate, who is appointed as Amicus Curiae to assist Justice R. Subhash Reddy as well as the Central Registrar of Cooperative Societies in disbursing the amount to the genuine depositors of the Sahara Group of Cooperative Societies. The manner and modalities for making the payment is to be worked out by the Central Registrar of Cooperative Societies in consultation with Justice R. Subhash Reddy, Former Judge of this Court and Shri Gaurav Agarwal, learned Advocate.

iii.        X xxxx xxx xx. Xxxx xxx

iv.      We direct that the amount be paid to the respective genuine depositors of the Sahara Group of Cooperative Societies out of the aforesaid amount of Rs. 5,000 Crores at the earliest, but not later than nine months from today. The balance amount thereafter be again transferred to the “Sahara-SEBI Refund Account”.

5.       In view of the above order passed by Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, the Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions are now disposing of variants complaints and execution applications related to Sahara Group of Cooperative Societies. For the ready reference one of such judgement of the Hon’ble State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, UT, Chandigarh passed in First Appeal no.A/34/2023 titled as Reena Devi Vs  M/s Hamara India Credit Cooperative Society and others reproduced as under:-

“we take our judicial hands off from the matter in view of the order dated 29.03.2023 passed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case titled as “Pinak Pani Mohanty Vs. Union of India & Ors. Writ Petition(s) (Civil) no.191/2022”

Further it directed the appellant to take necessary steps for recovery of due amount through the Central Registrar of Cooperative Society, as per the mandate of Hon’ble Supreme Court, if so advised.

6.       It is, thus, clear from the above discussion that the genuineness of the claims of the depositors/investors of Sahara Group of Cooperative Societies  and disbursal of the amount deposited with them is to be exclusively determined by the Special Authority and the manner and modalities for making the payment is to be worked out by it in consultation with  Hon’ble Justice R. Subhash Reddy, Former Judge of the Apex Court and Sh. Gaurav Agarwal, Amicus Curiae and for that purpose an amount of Rs.5000/- Crores has been ordered to be transferred  to the Special Authority out of “Sahra-SEBI Refund Account”  for further disbursal of the same against legitimate dues  of the depositors of the Sahara Group of Cooperative  Societies.  Therefore, we have no hesitation to hold that no authority including this Commission has the power to pass directions for disbursal of the claim except the Special Authority authorized by the  Hon’ble Apex Court vide the aforesaid order.

7.       In view of the matter as discussion above, the present complaint stands disposed of. However, the complainant is at liberty to approach the Central Registrar of Cooperative Societies (Special Authority) for the recovery of due amount, as per the mandate of Hon’ble Supreme Court. Copy of the order be supplied to the parties, free of costs. File be consigned to record room after compliance.

Announced in Open Commission