NEW DELHI: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday, 4 March, stayed a special court order for four weeks.
A Mumbai special court had earlier ordered the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to register an FIR against former SEBI chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and five others.
The court said the special courtโs order was passed without proper details. Justice Shivkumar Dige noted that no specific roles were assigned to the accused.
SEBI officials were accused of stock market fraud, regulatory violations, and corruption. The complaint was filed by Sapan Shrivastava, a journalist from Maharashtraโs Thane district. He alleged large-scale financial fraud and sought an investigation into the 1994 listing of Cals Refineries Ltd.
The court granted four weeks to complainant Shrivastava to file his reply. The case will be heard after four weeks.
The order invoked laws under the Indian Penal Code, the Prevention of Corruption Act, and the SEBI Act. The court had directed the ACB to submit a status report in 30 days.
On Monday, the High Court agreed to hear the case urgently. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared for SEBI officials. Senior counsel Amit Desai represented BSE officials. Justice Shivkumar Dige heard their arguments on Tuesday.
Tushar Mehta appeared for Madhabi Puri Buch and three SEBI directors. The SEBI directors named in the case are Ashwani Bhatia, Ananth Narayan G, and Kamlesh Chandra Varshney. Amit Desai represented BSE Managing Director Sundararaman Ramamurthy and former chairman Pramod Agarwal.
The complainant claimed SEBI officials enabled market fraud. He accused them of allowing the listing of a company that did not meet norms. Cals Refineries was suspended from trading in 2019.
During her tenure, Madhabi Puri Buch faced allegations of conflict of interest. A US-based short-seller accused her of offshore investments linked to Vinod Adani. Buch denied the allegations. The case also created a political battle between Congress and BJP.
Reports claimed SEBI employees were unhappy with her leadership. Some accused her of creating a toxic work culture.
SEBI launched major investigations under Buchโs leadership. It probed the Adani Group for alleged stock manipulation. It also barred Anil Ambani and Ketan Parekh from the market.
After Buchโs departure, Tuhin Kanta Pandey became the new SEBI chairman.
SEBI has stated it will take legal steps against the special courtโs order. It remains committed to ensuring regulatory compliance in all cases.
