The Bombay High Court has quashed a Mumbai Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) court order directing the registration of a first information report (FIR) against officials of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) over alleged irregularities in the 1994 listing of Cals Refineries on the BSE, according to legal sources. The court allowed criminal revision petitions filed by Madhabi Puri Buch, former chairperson of Sebi, and other whole-time members, holding that the complaint did not disclose any cognisable offence and failed to specify any wrongdoing.
The court found that the sessions judge had passed the order mechanically without applying judicial mind and had ignored the mandatory requirement of prior sanction under Section 156(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), as reported by legal sources. The court noted that the officials were not in office at the time of the company's listing, which further undermined the case against them.
The legal dispute stems from alleged irregularities in the 1994 listing of Cals Refineries on the BSE, which had been under investigation by the Mumbai Anti-Corruption Bureau. The court's decision effectively sets aside the ACB's directive for FIR registration against the former Sebi officials, providing them relief from the criminal proceedings initiated against them.
