Kesar Petroproducts Ltd. vs Sebi

Securities Appellate Tribunal28 October 2020

CitationAppeal No.352 of 2020

Ratio decidendi

The rule this decision rests on

The delay in filing an appeal may be condoned where the reasons stated in the condonation application justify it, and the application is allowed on that basis. A show cause notice issued in respect of a non-compliance that was known to the regulator from the outset, and issued several years after the non-compliance, is prima facie belated, and such belated proceedings should not be allowed to continue. Where the matter is heard and the regulator's case is prima facie in question, no recovery shall be made pursuant to the impugned order during the pendency of the appeal.

Written by Miss Lucy from the judgment below, not taken from a headnote.

Judgment

As delivered

BEFORE THE SECURITIES APPELLATE TRIBUNALMUMBAIDate:28.10.2020Misc. Application No.401 of 2020AndMisc. Application No.412 of 2020AndAppeal No.352 of 2020Kesar Petroproducts Ltd. ...AppellantVersusSecurities and Exchange of India ...RespondentMr. Sumit Agrawal, Advocate with Mr. Viraj Parikh andMs. G S Sreenidhi, Advocates i/b. M/s. Regstreet LawAdvisors for the Appellant.Mr. Vishal Kanade, Advocate with Mr. Nishit Dhruva,Mr. Chirag Bhavsar and Mr. Harshad Vyas, Advocatesi/b. MDP & Partners for the Respondent.Order:1.The present appeal has been filed against the orderdated 30th January, 2020 passed by the Adjudicating2Officer. There is a delay in filing of the appeal and,consequently, an application for condonation of delayhas been filed. For the reasons stated in the application,the delay in filing the appeal is condoned. Theapplication is allowed.2. After hearing the learned counsel for the parties, wefind that the MPS requirement was required to becomplied by the appellant in the year 2013. Since thesame was not done the appellant was restrained by anorder of the Whole Time Member from accessing thesecurities market. Further, we find that compliancewas made by the appellant in March, 2016. This non-compliance was known to the respondent from day oneand, therefore, issuance of show cause notice in 2019is prima facie belated. Such belated proceedingsshould not be allowed to continue. We accordinglydirect the respondent to file a reply within four weeks.Three weeks thereafter to the appellant to file3rejoinder. The matter would be listed for admissionand for final disposal on 22nd December, 2020.3. Considering the facts and circumstances that hasbeen brought on record we direct that no recovery shallbe made pursuant to the impugned order during thependency of the appeal. The stay application isaccordingly disposed of.4. Parties are directed to contact the Registrar 48 hoursbefore the date fixed to find out as to whether thehearing would take place through video conferencingor through physical hearing.5. The present matter was heard through videoconference due to Covid-19 pandemic. At this stage itis not possible to sign a copy of this order nor acertified copy of this order could be issued by theregistry. In these circumstances, this order will bedigitally signed by the Presiding Officer on behalf ofthe bench and all concerned parties are directed to act4on the digitally signed copy of this order. Parties willact on production of a digitally signed copy sent by faxand/or email.

Justice Tarun Agarwala Presiding Officer

TARUN Digitally signed by TARUN AGARWAL DN: c=IN, o=PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT UTTAR PRADESH, postalCode=221505, st=Uttar Pradesh, 2.5.4.20=30fcf68685192bbc53e6ff1608a83fb3881de7ac2ab7954d509

AGARWAL c85ed6e0f7c41, serialNumber=095f8b286bb0b1cd07ff676611f4f5e7999727d404aa38 ca422f9d3529bdb8a3, cn=TARUN AGARWAL Date: 2020.10.28 15:05:22 +05'30'

Dr. C. K. G. Nair Member

Justice M.T. Joshi Judicial Member

28.10.2020 RHN

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