He
was every body’s man. Irrespective of political ideologies, he was every party’s
favorite. He is ‘Dada’; the big brother to all. He advertises Bharat Mata as his mother. His
hospitality is legion. His company sponsors Indian Cricket team, Hockey team and
many more. His Son’s marriage was attended by the entire Bollywood, transported
to Lucknow by charter flights. From a Peerless
employee, Subroto Roy had come a long way. Today he jets around the world and buys
up global companies with global finance. He had a say in many matters of the
nation. He is deemed respected by all and sundry. Though the corporate name of
his company resonates the largest desert on planet earth, actually the name
Sahara in Hindi means something that stand by you, some sort of a major help.
One
had always wondered where did it all start! This group always had huge quantum of funds available
with it at all times. Mostly it has been
‘benami’ investment, coming from corrupt politicians belonging to all parties
of the nation. This group has been laundering money for close to three decades,
with absolute impunity. No wonder he was
the darling of the powers that be. And no wonder every rule of the nation was
bent to accommodate his wishes. The finance company’s business has been either
MLM (multilevel marketing) or Ponzy models
which is not on the right side of the law.
Things
came to such a head that the company floated many group companies and started
collecting money from the masses (or in that pretext) with absolute disregard
for the law of the land. Mind you, over the last two decades SEBI and RBI have
been watching many financial companies undergoing meteoric growth. Sahara
evaded the radar for very long, of course under the connivance from his friends
in power.
It
took an upright Civil Servant from Kerala (Dr K.M. Abraham, presently
Additional Chief Secretary of the Govt. of Kerala) while he was the Executive
Director of SEBI, to find out the company undertaking illegal means to float
debentures without taking permission
from the regulators. Meticulous study and analysis by him over a period of time
unsheathed the company’s ploy of amassing INR 20,000 Crores . Sahara group
tried all it’s trick to get off SEBI’s clutches. Persistent and diligent follow
up SEBI Chairman and the Supreme Court of India had now finally nailed the Chairman
of this Group, Mr Subroto Roy. After evading arrest, he finally surrendered to
the police and is now kept in police custody. He employs the finest and
costliest legal brains to fight his cases (lawyers such as Ram Jetmalani!). But
I feel that the nemesis is catching up with him now. One cannot say anything
yet, with powerful friends in all walks of life, one wouldn’t be surprised if
he goes scot free.
The
judiciary played a major role in catching the Group. At this point in time, in
India only Judiciary could do such an act as our executives and bureaucracy had
completely lost its teeth.
These
are case studies of how corruption permeates in all walks of life and how people
at high places evade law and engage in fraudulent activities under the cloak of
Patriotism.
One
thing is sure. What goes around, has to come around. It is only a matter of
time.
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