SC proposes panel to verify Sahara staff dues before releasing funds
A special bench of the Supreme Court on Monday said it may appoint an independent committee to verify the salary claims of thousands of Sahara Group employees before deciding whether to withdraw money from the Sebi-Sahara reimbursement account.
A special three-judge bench was constituted on the recommendation of Chief Justice Surya Kant to hear long-pending cases.
The bench, comprising Justice MM Sundresh, Justice Prasanna B. Varale and Justice Vipul M. Pancholi, made it clear that the committee will first examine who has this right and whether these people are working for Sahara. According to the committee’s report, the court will decide on the case.
During the hearing, the bench said, “We will now appoint a committee. We will issue an order based on the report of the committee.” “We will not be releasing any amounts today.”
The court was hearing several applications filed by former Sahara employees, some of whom were seeking unpaid wages. According to Sahara, he prepared employee-by-employee records showing each person’s name, employee code, company, length of service and unpaid salary. But judges said these figures could not be accepted without independent verification.
The committee is expected to verify whether each of the claimants actually worked for Sahara, their length of employment, their outstanding wages, tips and the total amount due. Once the application is completed, the committee will submit a report to the court, which will then decide whether to release the money.
The court will hear the matter again on Friday to decide on the committee members.
Employee dues have priority
The justices also discussed how the committee should operate, including its structure, timeline and expenses. They asked the lawyers to suggest the composition of the committee and said the issue would be revisited once those proposals were submitted.
Sahara, financially strapped, filed a lawsuit against Sahara India Commercial Corp. Ltd. and related companies have submitted applications covering more than 16,000 employees, as well as 9,000 employees of the Sahara Cooperative Society, he said.
The Sahara workers’ lawyer told the court that “people have not been paid for 10 years”. In its response, the board said “employees need to be dealt with first” and dropped the hint that employees’ wage claims would be dealt with first, before any litigation regarding Sahara payments.
The Board also took note of the Supreme Court’s Sept. 4, 2024 order requiring Sahara to disclose all of its assets and explain how the proceeds of the sale will be used to repay employees. Sahra did not comply with this order.
