The turning point in the case came when the Solicitor General, representing the government and the probe agencies, submitted a demand for ₹5100 crore in a sealed cover and the brothers agreed to pay the amount to buy their freedom from pending criminal cases.
The Supreme Court has directed the quashing of all criminal proceedings against the fugitive Sandesara brothers in the Sterling Biotech bank fraud case, provided they deposit ₹5100 crore as a “full and final payment” to lender banks.
“If the petitioners (Sandesara brothers) are ready to deposit the amount as settled in the one-time settlement (OTS), and public money comes back to lender banks, the continuation of the criminal proceedings would not serve any useful purpose,” said a Bench headed by J.K. Maheshwari.
However, the apex court clarified its directions for quashing the criminal proceedings were based on the peculiar facts and circumstances of this case, and “therefore, they shall not be treated as precedent”.
The court made it clear that its order quashing the criminal proceedings against the brothers would become operative only on the full and final payment of ₹5,100 crore on or before December 17, 2025.
The Bench directed the amount to be deposited with the Supreme Court Registry. The amount would be kept in a short-term and interest-bearing fixed deposit account with a nationalised bank till disbursement among the lender banks on a proportionate basis with reference to the amount due to each of them.
The order, dated November 19 and published on Monday, recorded that the amount of defalcation in the FIR was ₹5,383 crore. The OTS with respect to the Indian companies of the petitioners with the banks was for ₹3,826 crore and for foreign companies being guarantor was for ₹2,935 crore, bringing the total sum to ₹6,761 crore.
“Out of the said amount, the petitioners have voluntarily deposited a fraction of the 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 court order observed.
The lender banks had initiated proceedings under Insolvency Bankruptcy Code, 2016 before the National Company Law Tribunal and recoveries worth ₹1,192 crore had been made.
However, out of the total amount as specified in the OTS, the remaining unpaid amount came to ₹2,061.37 crore.
The turning point in the case came when the Solicitor General, representing the government and the probe agencies, submitted a demand for ₹5,100 crore in a sealed cover and the brothers agreed to pay the amount to buy their freedom from pending criminal cases.
Published – November 24, 2025 08:43 pm IST
