The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) will hear tomorrow Reliance Industries’ appeal against SEBI, in a case involving the market regulator’s probe into alleged violation of insider trading norms in sale of shares of the company’s erstwhile subsidiary RPL in 2007.
The case was last heard by the SAT on March 14, when the matter was adjourned till April 8.
Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) had approached SAT after its application to settle the matter through a ‘consent mechanism’ was rejected by SEBI.
Under SEBI’s consent mechanism, companies can seek to settle cases with the market regulator after payment of certain charges and disgorgement of any ill-gotten gains.
RIL has challenged SEBI’s decision to reject its plea and also the changes made by the regulator last year in regulations governing settlement of cases through the consent mechanism, especially those already under consideration.
In May 2012, SEBI had tightened the norms for settlement through consent framework. As a result, many cases, including those related to insider trading, are not being settled through this mechanism.
On January 3, SEBI published a list of 149 consent pleas, including 16 from entities related to RIL group, which it had found unsuitable for settlement through consent process.
These include applications of RIL itself and that of RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani’s close aide Manoj Modi.