Madhabi Puri Buch, ex-Sebi chief, and five others move to HC, to cancel FIR order

Former SEBI chairman Madhabi Puri Buch and five others approached the Bombay High Court seeking the quashing of the FIR registered against them for alleged stock market fraud. The Bombay High Court is set to hear the petitions filed by the former SEBI chief and others on March 4. The ACB has been instructed to refrain from acting on the order of a special court until then.

Earlier, a special court in Mumbai had ordered the formation of an FIR with the Anti-Corruption Bureau against former chairperson of SEBI Madhabi Puri Buch and five other officials regarding alleged fraud and regulatory violations in the stock market.

In his order, the Mumbai-based special ACB court judge Shashikant Eknathrao Bangar said, “At the outset, there seems to be some evidence of regulatory failure and collusion that needs to be investigated without any bias.” The court indicated that it would monitor the investigation, asking for a status report to be submitted within 30 days. As stated in the order, the court has also mentioned that it would have to investigate the cognizable offense.

According to that order, there is a need for judicial intervention by way of provisions under the CrPC because of the inaction by law enforcement agencies and SEBI. Besides Madhabi Buch, the court has ordered an FIR against the following officials: BSE Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sundararaman Ramamurthy; its then Chairman and Public Interest Director Pramod Agrawal; and three full-time members of SEBI – Ashwani Bhatia, Anant Narayan G and Kamlesh Chandra Varshney.