The Supreme Court has in a rare decision agreed to quash bank-fraud proceedings against the fugitive promoters of a corporate group if they cough up ₹5,100 crore while saying this will “not be not be treated as (a) precedent”.
This indicates that others facing similar charges — such as Vijay Mallya, Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi — cannot seek similar leeway.
In the present case, the Sandasera family — promoters of Sterling Biotech and other companies — will have the proceedings against them by the CBI, ED and the SFIO quashed if they pay up the agreed sum by December 17.
The order came on an interlocutory application moved during the Covid crisis in 2020 by two of the promoters, Hemant S. Hathi and Chetan Jayantilal, seeking the quashing of the charges.
In April 2022, the CBI, represented by additional solicitor-general S.V. Raju, had opposed the plea underlining that the petitioners had fled the country while thousands of others facing similar charges had chosen to remain in India and fighttheir cases.
It was not clear when the promoters had fled India and where they are based now.
While the plea kept coming up before the top court, negotiations were held between the banks, the government — represented by solicitor-general Tushar Mehta and Raju — and senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who represented the promoters. These talks led to the present settlement.
On November 19, the bench of Justice J.K. Maheshwari and Justice Vijay Bishnoi passed the order, which was uploaded on the apex court website on Monday.
“These directions as issued are in peculiar facts of this case, therefore, they shall not be treated as precedent,” the court said. It did not spell out what the “peculiar facts” were.
“...The amount of defalcation in FIR was ₹5,383 crore. The OTS (one-time settlement) with respect to all Indian companies of the petitioners with the banks was for a sum of ₹3,826 crore and for foreign companies being guarantor was of ₹2,935 crore, bringing the total sum to ₹6,761 crore,” the order says.
“...The petitioners have voluntarily deposited a fraction of total amount under various heads, including as per orders of this court, which comes to around ₹3,507.63 crore, leaving the remaining dues to ₹3,253.37 crore.
“The lender banks have initiated the proceedings under (the) Insolvency Bankruptcy Code, 2016, before the National Company Law Tribunal, wherein recoveries (have been) made of worth ₹1,192 crore.... (Therefore) the remaining unpaid amount comes to ₹2,061.37 crore.
“As indicated in order dated 18.11.2025 and after consultation with the lending banks, the investigating agencies through learned solicitor-general, in a sealed cover, demanded ₹5,100 crore against the dues/ recoveries which are the subject matter of the FIR and other criminal proceedings.”
The order does not spell out exactly how the figure of ₹5,100 crore was arrived at.
“…It is apparent that since inception, this court was of the view that if the petitioners are ready to deposit the amount as settled in OTS and public money comes back to lender banks, the continuation of the criminal proceedings would not serve any useful purpose,” the order says.
The companies promoted by the Sandesaras in India include Sterling Biotech Limited, Sterling SEZ Limited, Sterling Port Limited and Sterling Oil Resources Limited.
The promoters faced proceedings under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, Fugitive Economic Offenders Act 2018, Companies Act, and the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act 2015, among others.