Sebi rejects 5 consent pleas in Sept-Oct; total reaches to 223

Market watchdog Sebi has rejected five consent applications, in less than two month, by entities seeking settlement of proceedings against them in regard to their alleged violations of securities market norms.

With this, the total rejected consent applications by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) reached 223, ever since the revised norms for the consent framework came into effect on May 25 last year.

The five rejected consent applications, which took place between September and October 21, include the plea of Jayesh Valia & Ors for violations of takeover norms in the matter of VAS Infrastructure Ltd.

The regulator has also turned down the consent pleas of Jayashree Shriprakash Sardesai and Shriprakash Vinaykumar Sardesai for alleged fraudulent trade practice in the case of Crazy Infotech.

Sebi has refused settlement with AMS Finance & Securities Ltd for alleged fraudulent trade practices in the matter of Soundcraft Industries.

The regulator has rejected the consent application of Prem Meiwal for violations of insider trading norms in the case of Vikrangee Softwares.

Sebi said these pleas have been turned down as they were not found to be in consonance with the consent mechanism. "The pending proceedings in these cases will continue in accordance with law," the regulator noted.

"The rejection of consent applications, however, shall not prejudice the pending proceedings in any manner," it added.

Under Sebi's consent mechanism, companies and individuals can seek to settle a case with the market regulator after the payment of certain charges, without admission or denial of any wrongdoings.

In May last year, Sebi had tightened its regulations for settlement through the consent framework. The regulator has also been making public the names of the rejected applications since earlier this year.