Sebi moves SC against SAT order in Arora case

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has filed an appeal with the Supreme Court (SC) against the order passed by the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) exonerating Samir Arora of all charges which the regulator had levelled against him.

Sebi executive director, in charge of legal affairs, R S Loona, said the SC is yet to admit the petition. "The Supreme Court is still in the process of reviewing it and once it admits the petition, we will have a date for the hearings," he said. The application for the appeal was filed late last week.

In the appeal, Sebi is understood to have stated that it has enough evidence against Arora on the basis of which it had charged him with insider trading. The regulator has also stated that its charges were framed in the interests of investors who were participating in the markets.

In its order issued on October 15, 2004 the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) had exonerated Arora, the former chief investment officer of Alliance Capital Mutual Fund (ACMF) of charges of insider trading, misconduct and fraudulent trade practices.

But the three-member SAT bench had specifically stated that the evidence available with the securities watchdog was not enough to indict Arora.

Sebi had charged Arora on three counts: of insider trading, market misconduct as also unfair trades practices in relation to his role in making a bid for the assets of Alliance in India, his having disposed off the shares of Digital GlobalSoft prior to its merger with Hewlett Packard based on insider information and also the fact that while he was the CIO of the asset management business he was also the investment head of Alliance operating as a foreign institutional investor in India.