Co-location case: Ample grounds to challenge SEBI order, says NSE

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) is set to challenge SEBI’s order in the co-location scam. The exchange, which held a board meeting on Friday, discussed SEBI’s order asking it to disgorge ₹1,000 crore.

Vikram Limaye, MD and CEO, NSE, told the board that the exchange had strong grounds to appeal against SEBI’s order.

There is a consensus within the NSE board that SEBI’s order may not stand in court, sources close to the development said.

Soon after SEBI had passed its order in the co-location matter on April 30, Limaye had told

BusinessLine that the regulator had alleged no ‘fraud’ against the NSE. BusinessLine had reported on May 15 that the NSE would challenge SEBI’s order at the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT).

SEBI had passed five orders with regard to the co-location and dark fibre matter at the NSE but almost all those named in the orders have managed to get an interim stay from SAT.

These include NSE’s former head Ravi Narain, former Finance Ministry consultant Ajay Shah and his sister-in-law Sunita Thomas, Infotech Financial, top NSE official Ravi Varanasi, and brokerages including OPG Securities, Way2Wealth and GKN Securities.