TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2017 (3) TMI 1061
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....from 9th January, 2006, no charges shall be levied by a depository on DPs and consequently by a DP on a beneficiary owner when a beneficiary owner transfers all securities lying in his account to another branch of the same DP or to another DP of the same depository or another depository, provided the BO account at transferee DP and that transferor DP are identical in all respects. 3. A preliminary objection was raised in the appeal filed by the respondent before the Securities Appellate Tribunal. It was urged that under the SEBI Act, SEBI has administrative, legislative and quasi-judicial functions. Appeals preferred to the Securities Appellate Tribunal can only be from quasi-judicial orders and not administrative and legislative orders. This preliminary objection was turned down by the impugned judgment dated 29th September, 2006, by the Securities Appellate Tribunal. According to the Tribunal, the expression "order" is extremely wide, and there being nothing in the Act to restrict an appeal only against quasi-judicial orders, appeals would lie against all three types of orders under the Act i.e. administrative orders, legislative orders as well as quasi-judicial orders. This was....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....y an order of the Board made, on and after the commencement of the Securities Laws (Second Amendment) Act, 1999, under this Act, or the rules or regulations made thereunder; or (b) by an order made by an adjudicating officer under this Act, may prefer an appeal to a Securities Appellate Tribunal having jurisdiction in the matter. (2) ******** (3) Every appeal under sub-section (1) shall be filed within a period of forty-five days from the date on which a copy of the order made by the Board or the Adjudicating Officer, as the case may be, is received by him and it shall be in such form and be accompanied by such fee as may be prescribed : Provided that the Securities Appellate Tribunal may entertain an appeal after the expiry of the said period of forty-five days if it is satisfied that there was sufficient cause for not filing it within that period. (4) On receipt of an appeal under sub-section (1), the Securities Appellate Tribunal may, after giving the parties to the appeal, an opportunity of being heard, pass such orders thereon as it thinks fit, confirming, modifying or setting aside the order appealed against. (5) The Securities Appellate Tribunal shall send ....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....ises all the jurisdiction as that of the Board". This being the case, it is clear that the appeal being a continuation of the proceeding before the Board, the proceeding can only be quasi-judicial in nature. 9. Yet another indicator can be found under sub-section (5) of Section 15T by which a copy of every order made by the Appellate Tribunal is to be sent to the Board, the parties to the appeal and to the concerned adjudicating officer. The concerned adjudicating officer and the parties to the appeal obviously refer only to persons involved in a quasi-judicial proceeding. 10. Under Section 15Z of the Act, an appeal lies from any "decision or order" of the Securities Appellate Tribunal to the Supreme Court on questions of law arising out of such orders. Obviously, these orders are also quasi-judicial in nature. All this leads to distinctions between quasi judicial and administrative orders that have to be made on first principles. 11. For this we have to hearken back to the classic case of The King vs. Electricity Commissioners [(1924) 1 KB 171]. In a celebrated judgment given by Lord Justice Atkin, the definition of a quasi-judicial order is "Whenever any body of persons havi....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
..... Similarly, in Indian National Congress (I) vs. Institute of Social Welfare & Ors. [(2002) 5 SCC 685], this Court held that the exercise of powers under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 by the Election Commission is a quasi-judicial power. After referring to R. vs. Electricity Commissioner (supra) and Province of Bombay vs. Kushaldas S. Advani (supra), this Court laid down : "The legal principles laying down when an act of a statutory authority would be a quasi-judicial act, which emerge from the aforestated decisions are these: Where (a) a statutory authority empowered under a statute to do any act (b) which would prejudicially affect the subject (c) although there is no lis or two contending parties and the contest is between the authority and the subject and (d) the statutory authority is required to act judicially under the statute, the decision of the said authority is quasi-judicial. Applying the aforesaid principle, we are of the view that the presence of a lis or contest between the contending parties before a statutory authority, in the absence of any other attributes of a quasi-judicial authority is sufficient to hold that such a statutor....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
.... vs. F.N. Rana & Ors. [(1964) 5 SCR 294], this Court held that the report of a Collector made under Section 5A of the Land Acquisition Act is an administrative decision despite the fact that the Collector has to give the objector an opportunity of being heard. This was held because the Collector is not required to arrive at any decision on the lis presented to him. He has to submit the case for the decision of the appropriate Government together with a report containing recommendations on objections. It is thus clear that the Collector's report would not determine any question that affects rights even though there may be a duty to act judicially in the sense that the Collector has to hear objectors before him before making his report. Similar is the case in Govindbhai Gordhanbhai Patel & Ors. vs. Gulam Abbas Mulla Allibhai & Ors.[(1977) 2 SCR 511]. This judgment decided that the function of a Collector under Section 63(1) proviso of the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act is administrative and not quasi-judicial. In arriving at this conclusion this Court referred to various earlier decisions of this Court, which had held that an Advocate General granting or refusing sanction ....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
.... not confer power of judicial review in the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity. In this judgment, we do not wish to analyse the English authorities as we find from those authorities that in certain cases in England the power of judicial review is expressly conferred on the tribunals constituted under the Act. In the present 2003 Act, the power of judicial review of the validity of the regulations made under Section 178 is not conferred on the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity. (v) If a dispute arises in adjudication on interpretation of a regulation made under Section 178, an appeal would certainly lie before the Appellate Tribunal under Section 111, however, no appeal to the Appellate Tribunal shall lie on the validity of a regulation made under Section 178." [para 92] 19. This judgment was followed in Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. vs. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India & Ors. [(2014) 3 SCC 222]. The Telecom Authority of India Act, 1997 had been amended in the year 2000 to take away from the expert body under the Act, viz. TRAI, all quasi-judicial functions. Post amendment, the question posed before this Court was whether TDSAT, viz. the Appellate Tribunal had in exercise of ....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....lowing measures, either pending investigation or inquiry or on completion of such investigation or inquiry, namely:- (a) suspend the trading of any security in a recognised stock exchange; (b) restrain persons from accessing the securities market and prohibit any person associated with securities market to buy, sell or deal in securities; (c) suspend any office-bearer of any stock exchange or self-regulatory organisation from holding such position; (d) impound and retain the proceeds or securities in respect of any transaction which is under investigation; (e) attach, after passing of an order on an application made for approval by the Judicial Magistrate of the first class having jurisdiction, for a period not exceeding one month, one or more bank account or accounts of any intermediary or any person associated with the securities market in any manner involved in violation of any of the provisions of this Act, or the rules or the regulations made thereunder : Provided that only the bank account or accounts or any transaction entered therein, so far as it relates to the proceeds actually involved in violation of any of the provisions of this Act, or the rules or t....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....ated, or is likely to violate, any provisions of this Act, or any rules or regulations made thereunder, it may pass an order requiring such person to cease and desist from committing or causing such violation: Provided that the Board shall not pass such order in respect of any listed public company or a public company (other than the intermediaries specified under section 12) which intends to get its securities listed on any recognised stock exchange unless the Board has reasonable grounds to believe that such company has indulged in insider trading or market manipulation. 12. Registration of stock brokers, sub-brokers, share transfer agents, etc. (3) The Board may, by order, suspend or cancel a certificate of registration in such manner as may be determined by regulations: Provided that no order under this sub-section shall be made unless the person concerned has been given a reasonable opportunity of being heard. 15-I. Power to adjudicate. (1) For the purpose of adjudging under sections 15A, 15B, 15C, 15D, 15E, 15F, 15G 87[,15H, 15HA and 15HB, the Board shall appoint any officer not below the rank of a Division Chief to be an adjudicating officer for holding an inquir....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....:- (a) the times and places of meetings of the Board and the procedure to be followed at such meetings under sub-section (1) of section 7 including quorum necessary for the transaction of business; (b) the terms and other conditions of service of officers and employees of the Board under sub-section (2) of section 9; (c) the matters relating to issue of capital, transfer of securities and other matters incidental thereto and the manner in which such matters shall be disclosed by the companies under section 11A; (ca) the utilisation of the amount credited under sub-section (5) of section 11; (cb) the fulfilment of other conditions relating to collective investment scheme under subsection (2A) of section 11AA; (d) the conditions subject to which certificate of registration is to be issued, the amount of fee to be paid for certificate of registration and the manner of suspension or cancellation of certificate of registration under section 12; (da) the terms determined by the Board for settlement of proceedings under sub-section (2) and the procedure for conducting of settlement proceedings under sub-section (3) of section 15JB; (db) any other matter which is re....