Former SEBI Chief Madhabi Puri Buch, Two BSE Officials Approach Bombay High Court Against Special Court's Order To Lodge FIR Against Them

The Bombay High Court on Monday agreed to grant an urgent hearing to former Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Madhabi Puri Buch and also to two officials of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), who have challenged the order of a special PMLA court that on Saturday ordered the Anti-Corruption Bureau, Mumbai to lodge an FIR against them.

Single-judge Justice Shivkumar Dighe was moved by Madhabi and Sundararaman Ramamurthy, the Director of BSE and Pramod Agarwal the Public Interest Director of the BSE.

The trio have urged the court to quash the order passed by special PMLA court on Saturday against Madhabi, Ashwani Bhatia, Anant Narayan G and Kamlesh Varshney (While Time Members of SEBI) along with Agarwal and Ramamurthy.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta representing Madhavi, appeared through VC and mentioned her plea along with senior advocate Amit Desai, who appeared for Agarwal and Ramamurthy.

Upon hearing the request, Justice Dighe, granted urgent hearing to the matter and agreed to list the same on Tuesday.

Notably, special Judge S E Bangar while hearing an application made by one Sapan Shrivastava (47), a journalist by profession, noted that the complaint discloses a "cognizable offence" and therefore, ordered the ACB to register an FIR under the relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act and also the SEBI Act, and submit a probe report within 30 days.

The judge in the order, clarified that he has considered the "gravity of the offence" as disclosed in the complaint and thus had ordered an investigation under section 156(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).

"The allegations disclose a cognizable offense, necessitating an investigation. There is prima facie evidence of regulatory lapses and collusion, requiring a fair and impartial probe. The inaction by law enforcement and SEBI necessitates judicial intervention under Section 156(3) CrPC," the judge observed in the order.

In his complaint, Shrivastava alleged that Madhabi in connivance with other authorities of the SEBI and the BSE, allowed "fraudulent" listing of a company on the stock exchange and also did not take any action against the said company for its wrongs.

According to Shrivastava he and his family had invested in shares of Cals Refineries Ltd on December 13, 1994, which was listed at BSE India, and that he had suffered huge losses. He claimed that SEBI and the officials of BSE did not act against the crimes of the companh and instead listed it against the law, and even failed to protect the interests of investors.

The complaint alleged manipulation of the market by officials BSE and SEBI, who allegedly facilitated the corporate fraud by allowing the listing of the company.