RPL case: SAT quashes Sebi order against Mukesh Ambani, 2 others
Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) on Monday set aside the penalty imposed by Sebi on Reliance Industries Ltd's Chairman Mukesh Ambani and two other entities in a case related to alleged manipulative trading in the shares of erstwhile Reliance Petroleum Ltd (RPL) back in November 2007. The ruling has come after all the entities appealed before the tribunal against the order passed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in January 2021.
In January 2021, Sebi imposed a Rs 25 crore fine on Reliance Industries Ltd(RIL), Rs 15 crore on Ambani, who is the company's Chairman and Managing Director, Rs 20 crore on Navi Mumbai SEZ Pvt Ltd and Rs 10 crore on Mumbai SEZ Ltd in RPL case.
Both — Navi Mumbai SEZ and Mumbai SEZ — are promoted by Anand Jain, who once served in the Reliance Group.
In its 87-page order on Monday, the tribunal quashed Sebi's order passed in 2021 against Ambani, Navi Mumbai SEZ and Mumbai SEZ.
The tribunal also directed the Sebi to return the fine amount in case it has been deposited by them with the regulator.
The case pertains to sale and purchase of RPL shares in the cash and the futures segments in November 2007. This followed RIL's decision in March 2007 to sell around 5 per cent stake in RPL, a listed subsidiary that was later merged with RIL in 2009.
The tribunal said that RIL's board had specifically authorised two persons to decide the disinvestment.
