Tribunal slashes SEBI's capital markets ban for DLF

By Aditi Shah and Himank Sharma

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI (Reuters) - A tribunal has backed an appeal by property developer DLF Ltd against the harshest punishment ever imposed by India's market regulator, cutting a three-year ban from accessing capital markets that began last October to just six months.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) last year banned debt-burdened DLF for withholding key information at the time of its record-breaking public listing in 2007.

The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) on Friday reduced the ban to six months from the day of its imposition, Oct. 13, meaning it lasts only for another month.

"This is a vindication of our stance and clearly states that we did not in any way (violate) any of the regulations in our disclosures," DLF executive director in charge of finance, Saurabh Chawla, told Reuters on Friday.

The verdict comes as a boost for DLF in its struggle to reduce its net debt, which stood at 203.4 billion rupees ($3.25 billion) at the end of December.

While Chawla said the company has no immediate plans to turn to the stock market to raise funds, it has been considering raising money by issuing commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) and listing real estate investment trusts (REITs).

($1 = 62.6700 rupees)

(Editing by Clara Ferreira Marques; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)