SAT admits RIL arm's plea in insider trading case

Sebi accused Reliance Petroinvestments of buying shares of Indian Petrochemicals Corporation in early-2007 just before it declared interim dividend

The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) on Wednesday admitted the appeal filed by Reliance Petroinvestments, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), against a Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) order that charged the company for violation of insider trading norms. The tribunal has adjourned the hearing in the matter to September 25.

The capital market regulator has accused Reliance Petroinvestments of buying shares of Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd (IPCL) in early 2007, just before it declared an interim dividend and announced the merger of IPCL with RIL.

In May, Sebi had imposed a penalty of Rs 11 crore on the company. The fine  was based on Reliance Petroinvestments' trades in IPCL between February 27, 2007 and March 2, 2007. During this period, the RIL arm bought about 2.13 million shares of IPCL at an average price of Rs 259.42 a share for Rs 55.5 crore, prior to the two announcements.

Reliance Petroinvestments had filed an application in November 2011 to settle the case through the consent mechanism, rejected on November 1, 2012.  On Wednesday, Reliance Petroinvestments’ counsel argued that Sebi did not hear the company’s submission.