Appeal No. 161 of 2015. Case: Port Shipping Company Ltd. Vs Securities and Exchange Board of India. Delhi DRAT SEBI Cases
| Case Number | Appeal No. 161 of 2015 |
| Counsel | For Appellant: Mukesh Chaturvedi, Practicing Company Secretary and For Respondentst: Kumar Desai and Pulkit Sukhramani, Advocates i/b. The Law Point |
| Judges | J.P. Devadhar, J. (Presiding Officer) |
| Issue | Securities And Exchange Board of India Act, 1992 - Section 15HB |
| Judgement Date | April 29, 2015 |
| Court | Delhi DRAT SEBI Cases |
Order:
J.P. Devadhar, J. (Presiding Officer)
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Counsel on both sides state that the present appeal may be heard and disposed of at the stage of admission, on the basis of facts set out in the memo of appeal. Accordingly, by consent, the appeal is taken up for hearing at the stage of admission.
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The appellant is aggrieved by the adjudication order of Securities and Exchange Board of India ('SEBF for short) dated December 2, 2014 whereby penalty of ` 1,50,000/- is imposed on the appellant under Section 15HB of the SEBI Act for violating the directions given by SEBI.
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Relevant facts are that by circular dated April 17, 2013 SEBI called upon all the listed companies to obtain SEBI Complain Redressel System (SCORES) authentication within the time stipulated in that circular. As the appellant company failed to obtain the SCORES authentication within the time stipulated in the circular dated April 17, 2013, SEBI issued notice to the appellant on December 2, 2013 advising the company to submit the requisite information regarding SCORES authentication by December 18, 2013, failing which it was stated that penalty would be imposed under Section 15HB of SEBI Act.
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Inspite of receipt of the said notice dated December 2, 2013 the appellant company failed and neglected to obtain SCORES authentication. It is only when SEBI issued show cause notice on May 27, 2014 calling upon the company to show as to why adjudication proceedings should not be initiated against it and why penalty should not be imposed on the appellant company, the appellant company obtained SCORES authentication on June 3, 2014.
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From the aforesaid facts, it is clear that inspite of specific notice issued by SEBI, the appellant failed and neglected to comply with the direction of the SEBI for more than six months. In such a case penalty is imposable under Section 15HB of the SEBI Act.
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Counsel for the appellant fairly stated that there is delay in complying with the direction given by SEBI and in view of decisions of this Tribunal in Appeal No. 386 of 2014 (M/s. Vidarbha Industries Ltd. vs. SEBI) decided on December 1, 2014 and Appeal No. 379 of 2014 (Rakan Steels Ltd. vs. SEBI) decided on April 4, 2015, penalty would be imposable under Section 15HB of the SEBI Act. However, counsel for the appellant submits that in the present case, monetary penalty of ` 1,50,000/- imposed against the appellant deserves to be deleted/reduced for the following reasons:-
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