HC stays special court order directing FIR against ex-Sebi chief Buch, 5 others

The HC's judgement came on petitions filed by Buch, three current whole-time SEBI directors - Ashwani Bhatia, Ananth Narayan G and Kamlesh Chandra Varshney and two BSE officials - Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Ramamurthy and its former chairman and public interest director Pramod Agarwal.

Bengaluru: The Bombay High Court, on Tuesday, stayed a special court’s order which had directed filing an FIR against former Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch, Bombay Stock Exchange’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Sundararaman Ramamurthy, and four other officials for alleged stock market fraud and regulatory violations, noting that it was passed mechanically. The order has been stayed for four weeks.

The bench of Justice Shivkumar Dige said the special court order of March 1 also did not attribute any specific role to the accused in the matter.

“It prima facie appears that learned Judge (of the special court) has passed the order mechanically, without going into details and without attributing any specific role to the applicant hence impugned order is stayed till further orders,” stated the written record of the High Court, accessed by DH.

The complainant (journalist Sapan Shrivastava) has been given four weeks’ time, till April 1 to file his affidavit in reply to the petitions.

The HC’s judgement came on petitions filed by Buch, Ramamurthy, three current whole-time Sebi directors Ashwani Bhatia, Ananth Narayan G and Kamlesh Chandra Varshney, and former BSE director Pramod Agarwal.

The pleas sought quashing of the order passed by the special court directing the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to register an FIR against them pertaining to certain allegations of fraud committed in 1994 while listing a company, Cal Refineries, on the BSE.

Solicitor General of India, Tushar Mehta, appearing for the three Sebi officials, said there has been complete non-application of mind by the special court in passing the order. “Based on a vague and vexatious complaint, the special court has ordered an FIR. For something allegedly done in the year 1994, how can the current members of Sebi be held responsible,” Mehta argued.