Bombay HC defers proceedings in Sebi-CIC case

Matter kept in abeyance till Delhi HC hearing on Jan 30

The Bombay High Court (HC) has deferred proceedings on the writ petition filed by Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) against Central Information Commission's (CIC) order till such a time the proceedings before the Delhi High Court in the same matter are heard and disposed off.

The bench comprising Justice SJ Vazifdar and Justice Mridula Bhatkar today said that they will not intervene till the Delhi HC decides on the matter.

The Bombay HC hasn't decided on the date for the next hearing and the matter will be kept in abeyance till Delhi HC hears it on January 30.

In November, CIC's Satyananda Mishra had directed Sebi to disclose details of proceedings in the 2007 RIL insider trading case. RIL had challenged the CIC order in Delhi HC, while Sebi had moved the Bombay HC. The CIC order was based on an appeal filed by Bangalore-based lawyer and RTI activist Arun Agrawal.

The Bombay HC decisions will be positive for Reliance Industries (RIL), who in its reply, submitted on January 14, had requested deferment of proceedings. RIL, against whom the information was sought, was made a party to the Seb-CIC case.

In its reply RIL had said that the impugned order passed by the CIC “ as an officer and the said order is not passed by the commissioner as contemplated by the Act”.

Citing a Delhi High Court decision on the powers of the commissioner to pass orders and hear appeals as an ‘officer’ and not as a ‘commission’, the company argued that “the order is liable to quashed and set aside on that ground.”

RIL also contended that the investigation process of Sebi is still on and that the regulator has not taken cognizance of any breach of law or regulations as held by the CIC.

The impugned order ‘holds’ RIL “to be in breach of law and rules and regulations even without the investigating agency rendering any finding in respect thereof,” the company said last week in an affidavit.