Regulation 14 prescribes gravity factors for settlement applications. Applications made without admitting a securities-law violation receive a 0.25 factor for reputation risk. Additional factors apply according to the violation: failure to make an open offer carries 0.25; specified offer-document and insider-trading violations carry 0.50 each; and fraudulent and unfair trade practice violations carry 1.50. Applicable values are added to the reputation-risk factor.

Regulatory action factor (R) equals the aggregate of values assigned to administrative warnings and orders issued against an applicant. It assigns zero where no prior order exists, 0.10 for each administrative warning, 0.20 for each settlement order, and 0.30 for each adverse order. Orders stayed by a tribunal or court remain included in calculating R.

The stage-of-proceeding factor (S) determines settlement valuation according to the status of an enforcement proceeding when the settlement application is filed. Different values apply from voluntary or suo motu settlement through proceedings before a show cause notice, after a show cause notice, before designated or Board-level forums, the Tribunal, and the Supreme Court. For multiple proceedings arising from the same cause of action, the most advanced stage governs the applicable factor.

Settlement base amount is calculated by applying applicant-specific multipliers to the minimum applicable penalty and cannot be below an imposed penalty. Amounts are calculated and aggregated for each count of default, while a single default attracting multiple violations takes the higher applicable amount. The base amount is doubled for a lead conspirator, mastermind or key operator, and an independent director is treated as an executive director where implicated in benefiting from or actively participating in fraud. Specified conduct may be treated as one count, subject to adjustment of default counts based on case facts.

Settlement amount is calculated by multiplying the base amount by the combined value of the stage of proceeding, regulatory action, gravity, aggravating and mitigating factors. Where the net factor is below one, it is treated as one. Settlement amount is calculated separately for each applicant, may include legal costs, and may be determined by the Panel of Whole Time Member where the prescribed factors cannot determine it.

Settlement terms may include a settlement amount, disgorgement of wrongful gains, loss averted or investor loss, and remedial and regulatory terms where applicable. Disclosures form part of every settlement term, and joint and several applicants may be liable jointly or severally for disgorgement with interest. Settlement amounts are credited to the Consolidated Fund of India, while disgorged amounts with interest are credited to the Investor Protection and Education Fund.

Settlement applications filed after a show cause notice permit the specified proceeding to continue while the final order remains in abeyance until disposal or withdrawal. Applications filed before a show cause notice keep its issuance in abeyance. The Board retains power to issue interim civil and administrative directions for investor protection and market integrity. Applications by some entities do not affect enforcement proceedings against non-applicants, and adverse observations against an applicant remain subject to its settlement outcome.

Settlement applications may be rejected for non-response, delayed submissions, repeated non-appearance, breach of undertakings or waivers, non-payment, or non-compliance with settlement conditions. Withdrawal is allowed before communication of the decision on acceptance or rejection. Refiling after rejection is limited to a subsequent stage where the earlier defect no longer applies, while withdrawn applications may be refiled at the same or a later stage. Refiling requires an additional settlement amount, and undertakings and waivers remain valid after rejection or withdrawal.

Settlement proceedings are unavailable where an earlier application concerning the same alleged default has been rejected, while examination, investigation, inspection or audit remains pending, or where the applicant is classified as a wilful defaulter, fraudulent borrower or fugitive economic offender. Settlement may also be declined for defaults having market-wide impact, causing widespread investor losses, or affecting market integrity. The Panel of Whole Time Member retains discretion to accept or reject applications in investors' interests and for securities market development and regulation.

Regulation 5 requires a settlement notice before issuance of a show cause notice, identifying probable charges and contemplated enforcement action and allowing a settlement application within sixty days. This mechanism does not apply where interim directions, prosecution, or matters covered by regulation 27 are involved. The Board may modify the probable charges or enforcement action, without creating a right to settlement or a basis to avoid enforcement.

Settlement applications for specified proceedings pending before the Board must be made within ninety days of service of the show cause notice or supplementary show cause notice, whichever is later. The limitation does not apply where proceedings are pending before the Tribunal or Supreme Court. Transitional applications for proceedings pending on commencement must be filed within ninety days where a prior application was not filed, rejected, returned, or withdrawn, and attract an enhanced settlement amount.

Settlement applications for specified proceedings may be made at any stage through the prescribed form, undertaking and waiver, settlement amount computation, and applicable non-refundable fee. Facts established or admitted in related proceedings concerning the same cause of action are deemed admitted for settlement. A single application must cover all specified proceedings arising from that cause of action. Incomplete applications may be returned and must be revised within fifteen days, failing which they are deemed withdrawn. Non-natural persons must apply through an authorised person responsible for their business conduct.

Regulation 2 supplies the definitional framework for settlement of administrative and civil proceedings arising from contraventions of securities laws. An alleged default covers any act or omission contravening securities laws that attracts a specified proceeding. Specified proceeding covers proceedings that may be commenced or are pending before the Board, and pending appeals before the Tribunal or Supreme Court, for violations of securities laws under the enumerated enforcement provisions.

Settlement of administrative and civil proceedings is regulated through the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Settlement of Administrative and Civil Proceedings) Regulations, 2026. The framework prescribes procedure and terms for settlement, including connected and incidental matters. It takes effect on the day immediately following the expiry of thirty days from notification in the Official Gazette.

Section 6A of the Central Sales Tax Act places the burden on a dealer to establish that inter-State movement occurred otherwise than by sale. Before mandatory Form F declarations took effect on 11 May 2002, that burden could be discharged through Form F or other available evidence. Verification under Section 6A(2) is limited to declaration particulars; unsupported presumptions, common parties, or an alleged common modus cannot establish disguised inter-State sales. Inspection material confined to an earlier period cannot support disallowance for subsequent transfers where no further records were sought and depot receipts were treated as stock transfers and taxed locally.

Three Grievance Appellate Committees are established under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. Each Committee has an ex officio chairperson drawn from designated government offices and two appointed whole-time members. Ashutosh Shukla, Sunil Soni, Commodore Sunil Kumar Gupta (Retired), Kavindra Sharma, Sanjay Goel, and Krishnagiri Ragothamarao Murali Mohan are appointed as whole-time members. Their tenure is three years from assumption of office or until further orders, whichever is earlier.

SAM amendment processing depends on whether Sea Entry Inwards has been granted and requires a pre-existing CSN. Before SEI, CSN amendments and direct SAM amendments generally take effect without officer approval, although a CSN amendment after SAM filing must be followed by a corresponding SAA. After SEI, CSN-level changes require a CSN amendment and linked SAA, while direct SAM-level changes require SAA; both take effect only upon jurisdictional Customs officer approval. CSN and SAM data must match to prevent validation errors.

Article 226 writ jurisdiction could not be invoked to set aside an auction merely on a bidder's claimed confusion over its terms. Separate bids for the land and tower, even when aggregated, remained lower than the successful consolidated bid, undermining the claim of confusion or disturbance. The secured creditor and borrowing company did not challenge the auction process. These circumstances provided no basis to set aside the auction.

Filing a declaration under the Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution) Scheme, 2019, formed the basis for withdrawing a central excise appeal. The applicant requested dismissal of the appeal as withdrawn after making the declaration. The withdrawal application was allowed, and the appeal was dismissed as withdrawn, bringing the appellate proceedings to an end without determination of the underlying central excise dispute.

Accepted CSNs cannot be directly edited and permissible changes must be made through SCA; where a related SAM exists, corresponding changes must be made through SAA. Conveyance Reference and Rotation Number cannot be amended through SCA. Post-Sea Entry Inwards amendments require jurisdictional officer approval before system reflection. Structural changes involving conversion between Straight and Consolidated Bills of Lading, Consolidator PAN, or specified prior references require deletion and re-addition through SAA. Stakeholders must ensure accurate, timely and correctly linked declarations and seek amendments at the earliest stage.