The Supreme Court today sought a response from the CBI on a plea of Pearls Agrotech Corporation Ltd (PACL), accused of not refunding over Rs 49,100 crore to its investors under various chit-fund schemes, that over 70 FIRs filed against it and its promoters across the country be clubbed with the case being probed by the central agency.
A bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur got infuriated when senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for Sahara, said they have not been involved in the process of selling of properties by Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
Sahara's lawyer Keshav Mohan said that a draft of Rs 353 crore has been deposited in the SEBI-Sahara account.
A bench comprising Justices A R Dave and L Nageshwara Rao asked the group to move its application for release of funds to pay statutory dues with the expert committee headed by former Chief of India R M Lodha.
The apex court asked Setalvad and her husband Javed Anand to cooperate with the CBI in its investigation in the case in which their company, Sabrang Communication and Publishing Pvt Ltd (SCPPL), had received Rs 1.8 crore from US-based Ford Foundation allegedly without mandatory approval from the Centre.