Bombay HC Stays FIR Against Ex-SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Buch & Others For 4 Weeks

Mumbai: Bombay High Court has stayed FIR against ex-SEBI chairperson Madhabi Buch & others for 4 weeks. While saying the FIR on Tuesday, Justice SG Dige said: “It appears that (special ACB) judge passed order mechanically and without attributing any role to applicants.”

This comes just a day after the Bombay High Court on Monday directed the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) not to proceed with the special court’s order for now.

Justice S.G. Dige issued the directive while hearing an appeal by Buch, three SEBI Whole Time Members, and two Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) officials. The appeal challenged the special ACB court's ruling, which had ordered the agency to file a case against them in connection with a listing fraud case.

Court Proceedings & Legal Representation

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta represented the SEBI officials, while Senior Advocate Amit Desai appeared on behalf of the two BSE officials implicated in the case. The high court’s order provides temporary relief to the accused as they contest the allegations.

Background Of The Case

The case involves alleged financial fraud and regulatory lapses linked to 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 and three SEBI Whole Time Members—Ashwani Bhatia, Ananth Narayan G, and Kamlesh Chandra Varshney—as well as two BSE officials, Pramod Agarwal and Sundararaman Ramamurthy. The court also instructed the agency to submit a status report on the investigation within 30 days.

The order was based on a complaint filed by Sapan Shrivastava, a journalist from Dombivli. He alleged that SEBI officials had improperly granted listing approval to a company in 1994 without ensuring compliance with the SEBI Act, 1992, the SEBI (ICDR) Regulations, 2018, and the SEBI (LODR) Regulations, 2015.

Allegations Against SEBI and BSE Officials

The complainant claimed that SEBI officials, including Buch, neglected their regulatory responsibilities, allowing the company to list despite failing to meet compliance requirements.