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SAT presiding officer Rajaratnam recuses himself from the UBS case
Mumbai: In an unexpected development, Justice Kumar Rajaratnam, presiding officer (PO) of the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT), has recused himself from the UBS Securities Asia (UBS) case against the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), taking objection to Sebi's move of informing the media before it informed the court.

In a note issued late Wednesday evening, Justice Rajaratnam said, "An impression is sought to be created by Sebi that any suggestion made by the court for an amicable settlement between parties would not be acceptable to Sebi. Sebi undertook to report on Monday the outcome of their deliberation with respect to the settlement.

In the meantime, a statement is purportedly made by Sebi to the press without first informing the court about the outcome of the deliberation by Sebi, which has been conveyed to the press before conveying it to the court, that no settlement was possible. Since the suggestion (of settlement between the parties) came from me, it would not be appropriate for me to hear the matter and I recuse myself from the case."

Sebi, in turn, reacted by saying that any statement made on the regulator's behalf was without authority. Hearing in the UBS case will resume on Monday with the two other SAT members, Chandan Bhattacharya and RN Bhardwaj taking up the case.

On Wednesday, media reports had indicated that Sebi was not interested in plea bargaining, as suggested by SAT and would continue to fight the case under 11(B) of the Sebi Act, 1992.

Sebi counsel Rohit Kapadia, who had earlier been quoted in the media reports, said: "Plea bargaining is not possible under Indian law and as such, the question of Sebi resorting to it does not arise."
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