SAT reserves order in appeal filed by Punit Goenka against SEBI’s confirmatory order

The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) on Wednesday reserved its order in applications filed by Subhash Chandra and his son Punit Goenka to challenge SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India)’s confirmatory order that that prohibited them from holding any directorship or key managerial positions in listed entities. A date for the order has been given out yet.

During the hearing, senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing Punit Goenka, put forth a series of defenses. He contended that this stage of the proceedings involves allegations and investigations, emphasizing the need for a preventive rather than punitive approach in the public interest.

He pointed out that 8 months is too long a period to wait for and argued that the situation called for a balanced response rather than draconian measures, with a focus on preventive punishment for future compliance rather than penalizing past actions.

Additionally, he requested that the CFO of the merged company be allowed to report directly to the board if necessary, suggesting measures to safeguard shareholder interests.

Singhvi stressed the legitimacy and benefits of all transactions in question, asserting that the prosecution was unwarranted.

He highlighted Goenka's lack of control over other Essel Group companies and the absence of any demonstrated loss caused to the company. Singhvi also pointed out that there had been no recurrence of the matters previously investigated by SEBI in 2019 over the last four years, and failure to set aside the order could have significant repercussions.