Supreme Court refuses to entertain plea against appointment of SEBI chief

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a plea challenging the appointment of UK Sinha as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), pointing out the petitiion was targeting an individual under the garb of raising a constitutional issue.

The court felt the petition, by a group of 'eminent' persons, was meant for publicity, rather than raising serious constitutional issues.

''This writ petition is identical to the writ petition which was dismissed as withdrawn,'' said the bench headed by chief justice S H Kapadia. ''We expect proper pleadings in the matter where constitutional doctrines are involved, particularly relating to regulatory independence.''

It allowed the petitioners, who included former Indian Air Force chief S Krishnaswamy and retired police officers Julio Ribeiro and B R Lall, to withdraw the petition. But they were at liberty to file a fresh one raising objections on constitutional principles.
 
Former solicitor-general Gopal Subramaniam, appearing on behalf of the petitioners, had argued that the matter involved the larger issue of appointment of heads of regulatory bodies; the petitioners did not have anything against any particular individual.

He claimed that the amended rule relating to the appointment of the SEBI chief had given unbridled power to the finance minister, militating against the objective of having an independent regulator. The new procedure, of appointing a five-member selection committee (instead of three members earlier) had an ulterior motive behind it, he contended.

The finance ministry, however, denied the charges and said that Sinha's selection was unanimous and no undue favours had been shown to him. The ministry said the petition did not appear to have been filed bona fide, but sought to espouse the cause of some disgruntled former employees of SEBI. It said the plea was ''entirely misconceived and devoid of any merit.''