The Securities Appellate Tribunal (“𝐒𝐀𝐓”), an appellate body against SEBI, IRDAI, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), Stock Exchanges and Depositories has only one non-judicial member as against a full Bench, crippling its functioning and resulting in significant delays and disruptions. Industry stakeholders are concerned that the continued absence of a complete Bench could adversely affect the fundraising and expansion plans of companies involved in ongoing litigation.
The former presiding officer of SAT, Justice Tarun Agarwala, former Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court vacated the office in December 2023 post his retirement.
In this background Mr. Sumit Agrawal, Managing Partner of Regstreet Law Advisors and former SEBI Officer, offered his insights to Business Standardfollows:
“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘷𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘈𝘛 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘭’𝘴 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘢, 𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮.”
The article also features the expert views of Pulkit Sukhramani, Partner, JSA, Vyapak Desai, FCIArb, Lead – International Disputes & Investigations, Nishith Desai Associates, Nidhi Singh, Partner, INDIALAW LLP.
The Business Standard story can be accessed at : https://lnkd.in/gSDsVf46.
Readers are welcome to send their views to Regstreet Law Advisors at info@regstreetlaw.com
