Posted on: Post Date – Monday, November 14, 2022, 01:20 PM

The Chief Justice of India issued an order on October 19, 2022, directing that a notice be issued on the petition for review. Justice JK Maheshwari and Justice Hima Kohli dismissed the application for review by order of 19 October 2022.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court by a 2-1 majority has rejected a request by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for a review of its Aug. 5 judgment directing the market regulator to share certain documents with Reliance Industries (RIL) .
In an order, a panel of judges led by former Chief Justice UU Lalit and composed of Justices JK Maheshwari and Hima Kohli said: “The Chief Justice of India issued an order dated 19 October 2022 directing that in reviewing the petition, Notice issued. Judge JK Maheshwari and Judge Hima Kohli dismissed the application for review by order dated 19 October 2022. In view of the majority opinion, the petition for review was dismissed for the purposes of the signed order. Pending applications, if any, will be dealt with.”
In the majority opinion, Justices Maheshwari and Kohli said: “The Chief Justice of India has circulated his order dated 19th October 2022 with notice of examination of the petition which may be returned on 23rd November 2022. IMHO , we cannot agree to this because we have already expressed our view in a separate Order dated September 30, 2022 that the review petitioner has not shown any reason to merit notice or review of the judgment dated August 5, 2022, which this Approved by the Court of Criminal Appeal No. 1167 of 2022.”
In another earlier development related to the case, the Supreme Court also issued a contempt notice to SEBI on RIL’s defense allegations, alleging that it failed to comply with the court’s Aug. 5 order directing the market regulator to provide the company with Access rights to certain files.
The bench consisting of Justices MR Shah and MM Sundresh said: “A notice was given to the accused to be returned on December 2, 2022. Lawyer Abhishek Singh accepted the service of the notice on behalf of the accused.”
In their order, the judges, led by Judge Shah, stated, “We have completed … the follow-up order passed by this court on the application for review on October 12, 2022. Pending appeals and/or writ petitions and stays cannot Equivalent to a pending review petition.
“This court has the final decision on appeal. Just because a stay application is pending on a review application does not ground the defendant in granting a stay on his own initiative and failing to comply with directions issued by this court.”
The market watchdog has rejected RIL’s request to share privileged documents on the grounds that the accused company has no right to seek information from it under the SEBI (Settlement Procedure) Regulations.
The Supreme Court rejected the market watchdog’s position in its Aug. 5 judgment.
RIL had claimed that the filing would absolve it and its promoters from criminal prosecution in cases involving alleged illegal acquisitions of its own shares between 1994 and 2000.
On August 5, the judges, led by then Chief Justice NV Ramana (retired), said: “SEBI’s failure to disclose documents also raises concerns about transparency and fair trials. Opacity only spreads prejudice and prejudice. Opacity is the opposite of transparency.”
The Supreme Court had said that market regulators should show fairness and provide the documents requested by RIL, while SEBI has a duty to act fairly while instituting proceedings or taking any action against both parties.
The RIL filed a petition for contempt of court because Sebi did not share three documents – two legal opinions by former SC judge BN Srikrishna and a report by former ICAI chairman YH Malegam, which examined the irregularities.
The company claims that SEBI cannot continue to refuse to provide the documents, and it also sent a notice to the regulator, saying that if the documents are not received by August 18, then it will determine that Sebi does not want to comply with the Supreme Court decision.
In 2002, S. Gurumurthy, Chartered Accountant, filed a complaint with Sebi alleging irregularities by RIL, its associated companies and its directors/promoters including Mukesh Ambani and his wife Nita; Anil Ambani and his wife Tina; and 98 others.
The complaint cites problems with two preferential placements of non-convertible bonds in 1994.
SEBI alleges that RIL and Reliance Petroleum circumvented the acquisition of their own shares in contravention of Sections 77 and 77A of the Companies Act 1956.