The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed holding company Franklin Templeton to distribute Rs 9,122 crore within 20 days among the investors of six schemes that were closed down last year amid the coronavirus-induced lockdown, Bar and Bench reported.

A bench comprising justices S Abdul Nazeer and Sanjiv Khanna instructed the State Bank of India Mutual Funds to carry out the disbursement exercise.

Unit holders will be given an amount proportionate to their respective interest in the assets of the schemes. The court said that parties in the case can approach it in case they face difficulties in the process.

The court was hearing Franklin Templeton’s appeal against the Karnataka High Court order restraining the company from winding up the debt schemes without getting the investors’ consent by a simple majority.

On December 3, the Supreme Court had directed the company to convene a meeting of unit holders and get their consent for the closure of the six mutual fund schemes, PTI reported. The court noted that the matter was huge and the people wanted a refund.

Also read: Franklin Templeton winds down six debt schemes in India amid coronavirus crisis

A vote on closure of the schemes took place in the last week of December, NDTV reported. This was approved by a majority of the investors. On January 18, the Supreme Court allowed three days for filing objections against the vote.

Franklin Templeton had announced in April last year that it would close six of its debt schemes in India with immediate effect amid the severe market dislocation and crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The move was expected to lock in about Rs 30,800 crore of investors’ money.

The six high-risk, high-return credit funds were the Franklin India low duration fund, the Franklin India dynamic accrual fund, the Franklin India credit risk fund, the Franklin India short term income plan, the Franklin India ultra short bond fund and the Franklin India income opportunities fund.