Cannot take action against MII as complainant not reachable, says Sebi

Regulator Sebi on Tuesday said it has not been able to reach a complainant who made a series of allegations against a market infrastructure institution (MII), where he claimed to be an employee but did not provide supporting documents or verifiable details.

Sebi said it cannot take any action on complaints where the markets regulator is unable to reach back to the complainant or where the contents are not substantiated or verifiable.

The statement comes in the backdrop of one Charul Singh making several complaints against a market infrastructure institution (MII) wherein he made grave allegations over certain issues and demanded investigation by Sebi.

According to the regulator, the complainant made these allegations without any supporting documentary evidence and without disclosing his/her real identity. The name turned out to be fake, the address and phone number non-existent and there was no response from the e-mail ID.

Also, while the complainant claimed to be a serving employee of the MII, the MII stated that they do not have any records of any employee (former or current) by the name of "Charul Singh".

The purported whistleblower shared his unsubstantiated allegations with various media houses, some of which taking cognisance of his allegations printed articles without any evidence.

Since it has not been possible to reach to the complainant, the markets regulator said, "it is important to bring to notice of general public that Sebi can entertain complaints only if the concerned investor/complainant is reachable to substantiate any allegation and provide supporting documents".

"Sebi may not take any action on complaints where Sebi is unable to reach back to the complainant or where the contents are not specific /substantiated or verifiable," it noted.