Rajya Sabha clears Sebi amendment Bill

Criterion for appointing Appellate Tribunal chief relaxed; retired high court judges eligible for post

The Rajya Sabha on Monday passed the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Amendment) Bill, 2013. The Sebi amendment Bill seeks to consider retired high court judges for the post of presiding officer of the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT), a statutory body that hears appeals against Sebi orders.

Currently, only a serving or retired Supreme Court judge or the chief justice of a high court can be appointed SAT chief. Finance Minister P Chidambaram told the House that the present criterion has made it impossible for the government to fill the post. The post has been lying vacant for over a year now.

The government has also moved an ordinance seeking to broaden the criterion, which would enable a retired high court judge with seven years of experience to be appointed SAT chief.

Explaining the predicament of the government, Chidambaram said: “We have been trying to find a suitable judge. Unfortunately, despite best efforts, we are not able to find a suitable candidate to fill the vacancy. It is a very important tribunal. I will still try to find a person of the first criterion,” he said. He added, “We may have to settle now with a senior judge of the high court.”

He, however, said that the vacancy had not affected SAT’s work. “It is not that SAT is not functional. It is not that SAT’s work has come to a halt. There are two members of SAT who are functional. They are disposing of cases," Chidambaram said, adding that only 60 cases were pending before SAT.

Responding to Congress MP Saifuddin Soz’s query as to why only judges were being considered for appointment as presiding officers of SAT, Chidambaram said that SAT was carrying out legal functions. “This is a technical subject dealing with capital markets and only a judge who has dealt with commercial and capital market law will be comfortable to deal with the matters coming up before the tribunal.”

When Opposition MPs raised questions about the functioning of Sebi as an efficient regulator, the FM expressed confidence in the body as being one of the best capital market regulators in the world.

Answering queries on the robustness of the Indian system to tackle insider trading Chidambaram said, “Those who indulge in insider trading are very clever people. We have to be cleverer and I am, of course, trying to improve our surveillance systems.”