Mumbai, March 3: The Securities Exchange Board of India and the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Monday moved the Bombay High Court to challenge an ACB Court order to file an FIR against former SEBI Chairperson, along with some SEBI and BSE officials.

The Bombay High Court agreed to grant an urgent hearing on SEBI and BSE’s plea against the order on March 4 while issuing directions restraining the registration of the FIR.

A single-judge bench of Justice Shivkumar Dige issued this directive after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and senior counsel Amit Desai mentioned some petitions for urgent hearing, which were still in the process of being filed.

Justice Dige agreed to hear the petitions on Tuesday, directing the ACB not to act on the Sessions Court’s order until then.

Earlier, SEBI said in a statement that it would be initiating appropriate legal steps to challenge this order and remained committed to ensuring due regulatory compliance in all matters.

“The applicant is known to be a frivolous and habitual litigant, with previous applications being dismissed by the court, with imposition of costs in some cases,” said the capital markets regulator.

A Miscellaneous Application was filed before the ACB Court, Mumbai, against the former Chairperson of SEBI, three current Whole Time Members of SEBI and two officials of the BSE.

Even though these officials were not holding their respective positions at the relevant point of time, “the court allowed the application without issuing any notice or granting any opportunity to SEBI to place the facts on record”, according to the SEBI statement.

The BSE also opposed the order, calling the application for an FIR “frivolous and vexatious”.

“The court allowed the application without issuing any notice or granting an opportunity to present our case,” said the BSE.

Mumbai: In a relief to former Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and others, the Bombay High Court on Monday directed the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) not to act on the order of the special court.

Justice S.G. Dige granted relief to Buch, three current Whole Time Members of SEBI, and two officials of the BSE while hearing an appeal by them challenging the order of the special ACB court directing the agency to register a case against them in a listing fraud case.

The matter is likely to be heard on Tuesday.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared for the SEBI officials implicated in the case, while Senior Advocate Amit Desai represented the two BSE officials allegedly involved.

About The Case

The case pertains to allegations of financial fraud and regulatory violations concerning the listing of a company on the Bombay Stock Exchange in 1994.

On March 1, Special Judge Shashikant Eknathrao Bangar directed the ACB to register an FIR against Buch, the current Whole Time Members of SEBI—Ashwani Bhatia, Ananth Narayan G, and Kamlesh Chandra Varshney—and two officials from the BSE—Pramod Agarwal and Sundararaman Ramamurthy. The court also called for a status report on the probe within 30 days.

The order was passed on an application by Sapan Shrivastava, a reporter from Dombivli, who alleged irregularities in granting listing permission to a company on the BSE in 1994 without complying with the provisions of the SEBI Act, 1992, the SEBI (ICDR) Regulations, 2018, and the SEBI (LODR) Regulations, 2015.

It was alleged that SEBI officials, including Buch and several Whole Time Members, failed to exercise their regulatory duties, allowing the company to list despite not meeting the necessary compliance norms. The complainant also claimed that the accused engaged in market manipulation, insider trading, and artificial inflation of share prices, thereby defrauding investors and violating the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The complaint further stated that despite multiple complaints to both SEBI and the police, no action was taken.

The special court noted that the allegations in the complaint prima facie disclosed a cognizable offense and required further investigation, considering the inaction by law enforcement agencies and SEBI.

SEBI had issued a statement asserting that it would initiate appropriate legal steps to challenge the special court’s order and remains committed to ensuring due regulatory compliance in all matters.

“Even though these officials were not holding their respective positions at the relevant point in time, the court allowed the application without issuing any notice or granting any opportunity to SEBI to place the facts on record,” SEBI stated.

Mumbai: Mumbai Press is continuously monitoring the illegal activities occurring in the construction sector. Mumbai Press attempts to keep the public informed through every news report to protect them from fraudulent builders.

Currently, the process of filing documents for over 5,000 pavement slum dwellers in various projects is underway in Mumbai, where builders and their associates are buying and selling these files at very low prices through BMC officials.

The case of Mazgaon’s Alpha Mana Residency (AM Residency) is similar. According to BMC documents, the builder has provided houses to 20 pavement slum owners in this project, but the question arises: Were these individuals actually slum dwellers residing there?

In fact, AM Residency is being accused of a significant scam involving builder Salim Motorwala and his partner Suhail Ishq. The Alpha Mane Group wrote a letter to BMC E Ward expressing its intention to provide houses to 20 hut owners selected for their project, and corrupt officials of E Ward, Parveen Muluk and Amjad Khan, facilitated this by misleading their senior officials. In exchange for providing houses to these 20 hut dwellers, the builder received significant Floor Space Index (FSI) benefits. According to reports, on the day the contracts for the houses of the new hut owners were registered in AM Residency, these 20 hut files were transferred to the names of the builder and his family members, allegedly sold for only Rs 14 lakh, while now all these 20 houses are being marketed at market rates.

Many builders take on roles as trustees or responsible persons in mosques and madrasas but deceive the poor regarding their rightful housing in these projects.

Parveen Muluk and Amjad Khan of the E Department played a crucial role in this entire scheme.

To determine if the house you’ve purchased is a legitimate sale or a hut allotment, check if your payment is directed to the Alpha Mane Group or a third party. Legally, individuals allotted huts cannot sell their properties. However, the Alpha Mane Group accepted cheques in hut holders’ names and sold these houses to third parties, defrauding buyers. This also cheated the rightful hut holders, who had hoped for a better life after spending years living on the footpath.

Mumbai Press advises homebuyers to conduct thorough investigations when purchasing houses from potentially fraudulent builders. It’s crucial to verify in whose name your payment is being made.