Observing that Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) was not in a position to take a definite stand on the question as to whether violation of Section 12A(b)&(c) of the SEBI Act and violation of Regulation 3(c)&(d) of SEBI (Prevention of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices Relating to Securities Market) Regulations, 2003 constitute one offence or two offences, the Securities Appellate Tribunal has set aside the Order of the SEBI.
The Tribunal in this regard on 20-4-2016, observed that AO’s impugned Order considering violation under above mentioned provisions as independent and thus imposition of separate penalties, was in conflict with other Orders of the SEBI, wherein common penalty was imposed under Section 15HA of SEBI Act. It was also held that by defending the conflicting orders passed by the AOs, SEBI was neither promoting the development of the securities market nor was acting in the interests of the securities market.