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The Securities Appellate Tribunal has levied a cost of Rs 10 lakh on capital market regulator SEBI for not registering and hearing the complaint of an investor despite its order in January 2021.
Six appeals were filed with SAT against a SEBI communication disposing of the complaints filed by the appellants on the SCORES Platform of SEBI in 2021.
The appellants alleged they invested Rs 8.25 crore between May 2016 and October 2018 in a fixed income scheme —with a return of 2 per cent per month and Index Option Scheme with a stop loss of 4 per cent — with Ventura Securities (VSL), a registered stock broker with NSE. After an initial lock-in period, the schemes had an open option of redemption.
The appellants received various amounts as returns against their investment. However, once they made redemption requests, the investments were not redeemed.
The appellants filed complaints with SEBI and NSE besides moving the Bombay High Court.
The complaints were closed by SEBI and NSE, which held that the appellants were not registered with VSL and their money was invested with one Ameet Savant, who was giving the fixed returns.
Interestingly, Savant was being investigated by SEBI and the Economic Offences Wing (EoW), Goa.
Further, SEBI said that the appellants had already filed commercial summary suits with Bombay High Court and, since the matter is sub-judice, the complaints were treated as closed.
The investors then moved SAT, which impugned the SEBI communication and remitted the matter back to the regulator on January 20, 2021.
In March 2021, SEBI, through an order, said that as per the SAT’s direction the case is pursued based on the information available with SEBI. This clearly indicates that SEBI did not investigate the matter, as per the tribunal order.
Despite a clear direction against it, the case was disposed of summarily without an investigation into whether Savant received monies from the appellants as a proprietary concern or on behalf of VSL, or whether the monieseventually went into an account of VSL.
SAT said there was sufficient ground for a detailed investigation by SEBI and NSE on the complaints made by the appellants against VSL and its authorised person in Goa, Savant.
Setting aside the communications of NSE, SAT directed SEBI to register the complaints of the appellants and conduct a detailed investigation within three months after hearing the appellants.
“We also impose a cost of Rs 10 lakh on SEBI for failing to investigate the complaints of investors against the trading member despite the order of this tribunal,” it said.
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