SAT dismisses Pantaloon’s plea against Sebi

The Securities Appellate Tribunal has disposed an appeal

by Pantaloon Retail against an order by market regulator Sebi, as the company has settled the case through consent order mechanism. “The consent proceedings have already been completed and the appellant (Pantaloon Retail) has complied with the terms of the consent order. In view of the consent order passed by the Board (Sebi), the appellant prays that it may be permitted to withdraw the appeal,” the tribunal said. Consequently, SAT dismissed the petition as withdrawn.

In a consent settlement, the entity facing a Sebi probe is allowed to pay certain fees and is subjected to some restrictions without admission or denial of alleged irregularities on its part. Sebi thereafter drops the charges. While the SAT order did not mention the specific case and Sebi order against Pantaloon, market regulator in October 2011 had imposed a penalty of Rs 5 lakh on the company for failing to address investor grievances within the stipulated timeframe.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) had identified Pantaloon Retail as one of the companies against whom a large number of investor grievances were pending for more than six months as on June 30, 2010. In July 2010, Sebi had asked the company to redress the complaints and submit an action taken report within 30 days. However, Pantaloon Retail failed to do so, Sebi had said in the order dated October 13, 2011.