NCLT defers ICICI Securities delisting case to July

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Also read: What’s vexing ICICI Securities’ minority shareholders? ICICI Securities also claimed there was a jurisdictional issue, suggesting the matter should be addressed to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) rather than the tribunal. Senior counsel Arun Kathpalia, representing ICICI Securities, argued that the shareholders who filed the lawsuit represented just 0.0065% of ICICI Securities' share capital.

He also noted that most minority shareholders had approved the delisting proposal. Kathpalia argued that 37 of the 110 investors who filed the suit had bought shares of the company after 25 June 2023, when the swap ratio was disclosed.

Shareholders of ICICI Securities are set to receive 67 shares of ICICI Bank for every 100 shares they hold. Kathpalia said, "We are dealing with investors who are speculative and now they are speculating on a lawsuit." Also read: Quantum MF cries foul on ICICI Securities delisting, complains to Sebi The petitioners, however, said the shareholder vote was compromised by interference from employees of ICICI Bank.

Mint reported earlier that Sebi was investigating allegations that employees of ICICI Bank had reached out to shareholders of ICICI Securities to influence them ahead of the shareholder vote in March. Also read: ICICI Securities delisting: Sebi starts looking into complaints of vote meddling They also claimed that ICICI group mutual funds had bought as many as 1.3 million shares of ICICI Securities in March, which were classified as publicly held shares by the company.

Similarly, shares held by employees of ICICI Securities, to whom employee stock options were granted, were also listed as public shares, the petitioners said. The case revolves around ICICI