A payment of Rs 5,100 crore has bought the promoters of Sterling Biotech Ltd something courts rarely offer — a clean slate on criminal charges. But the numbers tell a harder story.
Documents filed before the Supreme Court reveal that secured lender banks are owed Rs 19,283.77 crore by the Sterling Biotech group. Against this, the Rs 5,100 crore accepted as “full and final payment based on consensus” represents barely a quarter of the total dues. The ED, meanwhile, had attached assets worth Rs 27,757 crore, a figure that dwarfs the settlement amount.
The promoters, brothers Nitin and Chetan Sandesara, had been accused by the CBI and Enforcement Directorate of bank loan fraud, money laundering and diverting funds through shell companies and fake transactions, according to reports.
They are believed to be in Nigeria or Albania. Extradition requests against them remain pending, and Red Corner Notices are still active.
On November 19 last year, the Supreme Court agreed to drop criminal proceedings against them, subject to the deposit of Rs 5,100 crore. The court said the quashing would take effect on deposit of the amount on or before December 17, 2025.
The Rs 5,100 crore was not the group’s first offer. The Sandesaras had earlier told the court they had already deposited Rs 3,507.63 crore under various heads, with another Rs 1,192 crore recovered by banks through insolvency proceedings. They placed their remaining liability at Rs 2,061.37 crore.
They also pointed out that they had originally entered into a one-time settlement of Rs 6,761 crore with the consortium of banks covering both Indian and foreign entities. Probe agencies opposed the liability figure proposed by the group. After consultations between the agencies and the lender banks, a revised figure of Rs 5,100 crore was proposed and accepted by the group.
The Sandesaras had first approached the Supreme Court in 2020, seeking quashing of CBI and ED cases. They said their dues arose from genuine business losses, not deliberate fraud, and that they had made all reasonable efforts to repay.
The secured lender banks have since filed a joint application before the court seeking directions for distributing the deposited amount among themselves. The banks said they had arrived at a distribution formula by consensus. Five foreign entities with combined dues of Rs 463.12 crore are to receive Rs 120.8 crore under this formula.
When the matter was heard on March 16 by a bench of Justices J K Maheswari and A S Chandurkar, counsel for the Sandesaras flagged that SEBI proceedings against the company were continuing despite the Supreme Court order.
The bench asked why SEBI was coming in the way after its order. The matter will be heard again on March 23.
Also Read: Global Scamsters Saving Modi: Cong Over Lalit Modi’s Tweets https://www.vibesofindia.com/global-scamsters-saving-modi-cong-over-lalit-modis-tweets/
