FIR: Bombay High Court asks ACB not to act against ex-Sebi chief Madhabi Puri Buch

A special court had directed ACB to register an FIR against Buch, Bombay Stock Exchange MD Sundararaman Ramamurthy and others for alleged stock market fraud and regulatory violations

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Monday asked the ACB not to act until March 4 on an order directing it to lodge an FIR against former Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and five other officials for alleged stock market fraud and regulatory violations.

Buch, Bombay Stock Exchange MD Sundararaman Ramamurthy and the others moved the HC on Monday, seeking to quash the March 1 order passed by a special court here directing the State ACB to register an FIR against them pertaining to certain allegations of fraud committed in 1994 while listing a company on the BSE. The pleas were mentioned before a single bench of Justice SG Dige for urgent hearing.

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The bench said it would hear the pleas on Tuesday and added that until then, the state Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), which was directed to probe the case, shall not act upon the special court order.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared for Buch and three current whole time Sebi directors — Ashwani Bhatia, Ananth Narayan G and Kamlesh Chandra Varshney.

Senior counsel Amit Desai appeared for the Bombay Stock Exchange’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Sundararaman Ramamurthy and its former chairman and public interest director Pramod Agarwal.

The pleas sought quashing of the special court order, terming it as illegal and arbitrary. The order was not legally sustainable as the petitioners were not even issued a notice or heard before a decision was taken, the pleas said.

Special ACB court judge, SE Bangar, in the order on March 1 said there was prima facie evidence of regulatory lapses and collusion, requiring a fair and impartial probe. The ACB court also said it will monitor the probe, and sought a status report within 30 days.

The order was passed on a complaint filed by Sapan Shrivastava, a media reporter, seeking investigation into the alleged offences committed by the accused, involving largescale financial fraud, regulatory violations and corruption.

The allegations pertain to the fraudulent listing of a company on the stock exchange in the year 1994 with the active connivance of regulatory authorities, particularly the Securities and Exchange Board of India, without compliance under the SEBI Act, 1992 and rules and regulations thereunder.

The Sebi in a statement on Sunday said it “would be initiating appropriate legal steps to challenge this order and remains committed to ensuring due regulatory compliance in all matters”.

The market regulator said the application, which sought directions to the police to register an FIR and investigate alleged irregularities in granting listing permission to a company on the Bombay Stock Exchange in 1994, was allowed by the court “even though these officials were not holding their respective positions at the relevant point of time”.

The Bombay Stock Exchange has in a statement termed the application as “frivolous and vexatious in nature”.