Supreme Court orders fresh review by Securities Appellate Tribunal

The Supreme Court set aside the judgment of the Securities Appellate Tribunal due to reliance on a reversed decision and failure to consider the respondent's specific role in a fraudulent transaction. The Court ordered a fresh reconsideration of the appeal by the Tribunal, leaving all contentions open and disposing of the case with no costs.

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Issues:
Appeal against judgment of Securities Appellate Tribunal; Reliance on reversed decision; Lack of consideration of specific role of respondent by Securities Appellate Tribunal.

Analysis:
The Supreme Court heard an appeal challenging the judgment and order of the Securities Appellate Tribunal dated 19.11.2020. The Appellate Tribunal had based its decision on a previous case, 'Adi Cooper v. Securities and Exchange Board of India,' which was later reversed by the Supreme Court in Civil Appeal No. 380 of 2020. The Court noted that it is not permissible to rely on the decision in 'Adi Cooper' anymore. Furthermore, the Court observed that the Securities Appellate Tribunal did not adequately address the respondent's specific role as noticee No. 6 in a fraudulent transaction, despite the SEBI order of 06.03.2020 highlighting this aspect. Due to these reasons, the Supreme Court set aside the impugned judgment and ordered the parties to go back before the Securities Appellate Tribunal for a fresh reconsideration of the appeal. The Court left all contentions open, disposed of the Civil Appeal with no costs, and also disposed of all related applications.

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