SEBI should consider settlement with RIL, suggests SAT
11 Oct 2013
The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) today suggested that the Securities & Exchange Board of India should consider the consent application of Reliance Industries Ltd to settle the six-year-old insider trading case against the conglomerate, while adjourning further hearing of the case to 29 October.
The tribunal has been hearing the appeal filed by RIL against SEBI in an insider trading case related to its erstwhile subsidiary Reliance Petroleum Ltd (RPL) dating back to 2007.
The company is also contesting the regulator's decision of last May to keep the case out of the consent mechanism, suggesting the amount involved is too high.
Under a SEBI consent mechanism, companies can seek to settle cases after paying charges and disgorging any unlawful gains.
Hearing the arguments, which have already been adjourned eight times, SAT presiding officer J P Devadhar said, "Without going into the merits of the case, we want to know if SEBI can consider RIL's consent application in the interest of justice."
In response to this, SEBI senior counsel Darius Khambata said he will inform the tribunal after discussing the suggestion with the regulator.
Following this, SAT adjourned the further hearing on the petition to 29 October.