Bombay HC halts FIR against SEBI, BSE officials; hearing on Tuesday

Mumbai: The Securities Exchange Board of India and the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Monday moved the Bombay High Court to challenge an ACB Court order to file an FIR against former SEBI Chairperson, along with some SEBI and BSE officials.

The Bombay High Court agreed to grant an urgent hearing on SEBI and BSE’s plea against the order on March 4 while issuing directions restraining the registration of the FIR.

A single-judge bench of Justice Shivkumar Dige issued this directive after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and senior counsel Amit Desai mentioned some petitions for urgent hearing, which were still in the process of being filed.

Justice Dige agreed to hear the petitions on Tuesday, directing the ACB not to act on the Sessions Court’s order until then.

Earlier, SEBI said in a statement that it would be initiating appropriate legal steps to challenge this order and remained committed to ensuring due regulatory compliance in all matters.

“The applicant is known to be a frivolous and habitual litigant, with previous applications being dismissed by the court, with imposition of costs in some cases,” said the capital markets regulator.

A Miscellaneous Application was filed before the ACB Court, Mumbai, against the former Chairperson of SEBI, three current Whole Time Members of SEBI and two officials of the BSE.

Even though these officials were not holding their respective positions at the relevant point of time, “the court allowed the application without issuing any notice or granting any opportunity to SEBI to place the facts on record”, according to the SEBI statement.

The BSE also opposed the order, calling the application for an FIR “frivolous and vexatious”.

“The court allowed the application without issuing any notice or granting an opportunity to present our case,” said the BSE.

–IANS