SC stays SAT order directing Sebi's AO to appear before it

The Supreme Court on Monday stayed a Securities Appellate Tribunal order directing the Adjudicating Officer of market regulator SEBI to appear before it in a case of unfair trade practices.

A bench of Justices Vineet Saran and Aniruddha Bose issued notice on an appeal filed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India challenging the order passed by SAT, Mumbai.

The apex court also stayed SAT's part of the order which asked the Adjudicating Officer to file an affidavit explaining why the argument on delay by the party was dealt with in a "casual" manner.

SAT in its December 16, 2021 order had taken cognisance of the petitioner Yatin Pandya arguments and said Sebi's adjudicating officer dealt with the matter casually, which amounts to 'judicial dishonesty'.

"In spite of making a specific assertion, the Adjudicating Officer has dealt issue-1 in paragraph 12 in a very casual manner without dealing with the contention of the appellant. Prima facie in our view this amounts to judicial dishonesty ... Let a reply be filed by the respondent which shall be sworn by the AO himself within a week from today," the SAT had said in its order.

Yatin had moved SAT challenging the original order of the adjudicating officer and submitted that the proceedings initiated are belated.

He contended that there was a 12-year delay in issuing a show-cause notice.

The SEBI in its petition filed before the apex court said that the order passed by SAT was "erroneous, unsustainable and exceeded the jurisdiction" of the Tribunal.

It contended that the aggressive comments made by SAT were "unwarranted" and it had no powers to try the regulatory official.