Company : Sol Infotech Pvt. Ltd. Website : www.courtkutchehry.com SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE BOARD OF INDIA APPELLATE TRIBUNAL (PROCEDURE) RULES, 1995 CONTENTS 1. Short title and commencement 2. Definitions 3. Sittings of Appellate Tribunal 4. Language of Appellate Tribunal 5. Procedure for filing appeals 6. Presentation and scrutiny of memorandum of appeal 7. Place of filing memorandum of appeal 8. Fee 9. Deposit of amount of penalty 10. Contents of memorandum of appeal 11. Documents to accompany memorandum of appeal 12. Plural remedies 13. Endorsing copy of appeal to the Board 1 4 . Filing of reply to the appeal and other documents by the respondent or the Board 15. Date and place of hearing to be notified 1 6 . D ress regulations for the Presiding Officer and for the representatives of the parties 17. Order to be signed and dated 18. Publication of orders 19. Communication of orders 20. Fee for Inspection of records and obtaining -copies thereof 21. Orders and-directions In certain cases 22. Working hours of the Appellate Tribunal 23. Holiday 24. Powers and functions of the Registrar 25. Additional powers and duties of Registrar 26. Seal and emblem SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE BOARD OF INDIA APPELLATE TRIBUNAL (PROCEDURE) RULES, 1995 In exercise of the powers conferred by section 29 read with section 15T of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992 (15 of 1992), the Central Government hereby makes the following rules, namely :- 1. Short title and commencement :- (1) These rules may be called the Securities and Exchange Board of India appellate Tribunal (Procedure) Rules, 1995. (2) They shall come into force on the date of their publication In the Official Gazette. 2. Definitions :- (1) In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires,- (a) "Act" means the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992 (15 of 1992): ( b ) "Adjudicating Officer" means an officer appointed under sub- section ( I ) of section 15I of the Act; (c) "agent" means a person duly authorised by the appellant to present appeal or to give reply on its behalf before the Appellate Tribunal; (d) "appeal" means an appeal preferred by any person aggrieved by any order made by an Adjudicating Officer under sub-section (1) of section 15T of the Act; (e) "appellant" means a person making an appeal to the Appellate Tribunal under section 15T of the Act; (f) "Appellate Tribunal" means the Securities Appellate Tribunal established under sub-section (1) of section 15K of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992 (15 of 1992); (g) "form" means the form appended to these rules; (h) "legal practitioner" shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in Advocates Act, 1961 ; (i) "Presiding Officer", means the Presiding Officer of the Securities Appellate Tribunal appointed under section 15L of the Act; (j) "Registrar" means the Registrar of an Appellate Tribunal and includes any officer of such Appellate Tribunal to whom the powers and functions of the Registrars may be assigned; (k) "Registry" means the Registry of the Appellate Tribunal. (2) Words and expressions used and not defined in these rules, but defined in Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992 (15 of 1992), shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in that Act. 3. Sittings of Appellate Tribunal :- An Appellate Tribunal shall hold its sittings either at the head office of the Board or at such other place falling within its jurisdiction as it may consider convenient. 4. Language of Appellate Tribunal :- ( 1 ) The proceedings of the Appellate Tribunal shall be conducted i n English or Hindi. (2) No appeal, reference, application, representation, document or other matters contained in any language other than English or Hindi, shall be accepted by the Appellate Tribunal, unless the same is accompanied by a true copy of translation thereof in English or Hindi. 5. Procedure for filing appeals :- (1) A memorandum of appeal shall be presented in the form annexed to these rules by the appellant either in person to the Registrar of the Appellate Tribunal within whose jurisdiction his 'case falls or shall be sent by registered post addressed to such Registrar. (2) Where the appellant is a company, a memorandum of appeal may be preferred,- (a) by one or more legal practitioners authorised by such company; or (b) by any of the officers of such company to act as Presenting Officers; and every person so authorised may present the appeal before the Appellate- Tribunal. (3) Where the appellant is other than a company he may prefer an appeal in person or by his agent or by a duly authorised legal practitioner. (4) An appeal sent by post under sub-rule ( 1 ) shall be deemed to have been presented to the Registrar on the day on which it is received in the office of the Registrar. (5) The appeal under sub-rule (1) shall be presented in four sets in a paper book along with an empty file size envelope bearing the full address of the respondent and where the number of respondents are more than one, then sufficient number of extrapaper books together with empty file size envelopes bearing the full address of each respondent shall be furnished by the appellant. 6. Presentation and scrutiny of memorandum of appeal :- (1) The Registrar shall endorse on every appeal" the date on which it is presented under rule 5 or deemed to have been presented under that rule and shall sign endorsement. (2) If, on scrutiny, the appeal is found to be in order, it shall be duly registered and given a serial number. (3) If an appeal on scrutiny is found to be defective and the defect noticed is formal in nature, the Registrar may allow the appellant to rectify the same in his presence and if the said defect is not formal in nature, the Registrar may allow the appellant such time to rectify the defect as he may deem fit. (4) If the concerned appellant fails to rectify the defect within the time allowed in sub-rule (3), the Registrar may, by order and for reasons to be recorded in writing, decline to register such memorandum of appeal. (5) An appeal against the order of the Registrar under sub-rule (4) shall be made within fifteen days of making of such order to the Presiding Officer concerned in his Chamber, whose decision thereon shall be final. 7. Place of filing memorandum of appeal :- The memorandum of appeal shall be filed by the appellant with the Registrar of the Appellate Tribunal having jurisdiction in the matter. 8. Fee :- ( 1 ) Every memorandum of appeal under section 15T of the Act shall be accompanied by a fee provided in sub-rule (2) and such fee may be remitted either in the form of a crossed demand draft drawn on a nationalised bank in favour of the Registrar and payable at the station where the Registrar's office is situated or remitted through a crossed Indian postal order drawn in favour of the Registrar and payable in the Central Post Office of the station where the Appellate Tribunal is located. (2) The amount of fee payable in respect of an appeal under section 15T shall be as follows: TABLE Amount of penalty imposed Amount of fees payable 1. Less than rupees ten thousand Rs. 500 2. Rupees ten thousand or more, but less than rupees one lakh Rs. 1,200 3. Rupees one lakh or more Rs. 1,200 plus Rs. 1,000 for every additional rupees one lakh of penalty. 9. Deposit of amount of penalty :- Where an appeal is preferred by a person under section 15T of the Act, such appeal shall not be entertained by the Appellate Tribunal unless such person has deposited with the Appellate Tribunal the amount of penalty imposed by the Adjudicating Officer : Provided that the Appellate Tribunal may, for reasons to be recorded in writing, waive or reduce the amount to be deposited with the Appellate Tribunal. 10. Contents of memorandum of appeal :- (1) Every memorandum of appeal filed under rule 5 shall set forth concisely, under distinct heads, the grounds of such appeal without any argument or narrative, and such grounds shall be numbered consecutively and shall be typed in double line space on one side of the paper. (2) It shall not be necessary to present a separate memorandum of appeal to seek an interim order or direction if in the memorandum of appeal, the same is prayed for. 11. Documents to accompany memorandum of appeal :- (1) Every memorandum of appeal shall be in triplicate and shall be accompanied by two copies (at least one of which shall be a certified copy) of the order of the Division Chief under Chapter VIA of the Act against which the appeal is filed. (2) Where the parties to the appeal are being represented by an agent, documents authorising him to act as such agent shall also be appended to the appeal: Provided that where an appeal is filed by a legal practitioner, it shall be accompanied by a duly executed vakalatnama. (3) Where a company is being represented by any of its officers to act as Presenting Officer before the Appellate Tribunal, the document.authorising him to act as Presenting Officer shall be appended to the memorandum of appeal. 12. Plural remedies :- A memorandum of appeal shall not seek relief or reliefs based on more than a single cause of action in one single memorandum of appeal unless the reliefs prayed for are consequential to one another. 13. Endorsing copy of appeal to the Board :- A copy of the memorandum of appeal and paper books shall be served on the Board, as soon as they are filed, by the Registrar by registered post. 14. Filing of reply to the appeal and other documents by the respondent or the Board :- (1) The respondent or the Board may file four complete sets containing the reply to the appeal along with document in a paper book form with the registry within one month of the service of the notice on him of the filing of the memorandum of appeal. (2) The respondent or the Board shall also endorse one copy of the reply to the appeal along with documents as mentioned in sub-rule (1) to the appellant. (3) The Appellate Tribunal may, in its discretion, on application by the respondent or the Board, allow the filing of the reply referred to in sub-rule (1), after the expiry of the period referred to therein. 15. Date and place of hearing to be notified :- The Appellate Tribunal shall notify the parties the date and place of hearing of the appeal in such a manner as the Presiding Officer may, by general or special order, direct. 16. Dress regulations for the Presiding Officer and for the representatives of the parties :- (1) Summer dress for the Presiding Officer shall be white pants with black coat and black tie or a buttoned-up black coat. In winter, striped or black trousers may be worn in place of white trousers. In the case of female Presiding Officers, however, the dress shall be black coat over white saree. (2) The dress for the agent of the parties (other than a relative or regular employee of the appellant or respondent or the Board) appearing before the Appellate Tribunal shall be the following, namely: (a) In the case of males, a suit with a tie or buttoned-up coat over pants or national dress, that is, a long buttoned-up coat on dhoti or churridar pyjama. The colour of the coat shall, preferably, be black. (b) In the case of females, black coat over white or any other sober-coloured saree. (c) Where, however, the agent belongs to a profession like that of lawyers or chartered accountants and they have been prescribed a dress for appearing in their professional capacity before any court. Appellate Tribunal, Tribunal or other such authority, they may, at their option, appear in that dress, in lieu of the dress mentioned above. (3) All other persons appearing before the Appellate Tribunal shall be properly dressed. 17. Order to be signed and dated :- (1) Every order of the Appellate Tribunal shall be in writing and shall be signed and dated by the Presiding Officer of the Appellate Tribunal. (2) The order shall be pronounced in the open court. 18. Publication of orders :- T h e orders of the Appellate Tribunal as are deemed fit for publication in any authoritative report or the press may be released for such publication on such terms and conditions as the Appellate Tribunal may lay down. 19. Communication of orders :- Every order passed on an appeal shall be communicated to the appellant and to the respondent and to the Board and Adjudicating Officer concerned -either in person or by registered post free of cost. 20. Fee for Inspection of records and obtaining -copies thereof :- (1)A fee of rupees twenty for every hour or part thereof of inspection subject to a minimum of rupees one hundred shall be charged for inspecting the records of a pending appeal by a party thereto. (2) A fee of rupees five for a folio or part thereof not involving typing and a fee of rupees ten for a folio or part thereof involving typing of statement and figures shall be charged. 21. Orders and-directions In certain cases :- The Appellate Tribunal may make such orders or give such directions as may be necessary or expedient to give effect to its orders or to prevent abuse of its process or to secure the ends of justice. 22. Working hours of the Appellate Tribunal :- ( 1 ) Except on Saturdays, Sundays and other public holidays, the offices of the Appellate Tribunal shall, subject to any other order made by the Presiding Officer, remain open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., but no work, unless of an urgent nature, shall be admitted after 4.30 p m. on any working day. (2) The sitting hours of the Appellate Tribunal shall ordinarily be from 10.30 a.m.to 1.00 p.m. and 2.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m. subject to any order made by the Presiding Officer. 23. Holiday :- Where the last day for doing any act falls on a day on which the office of the Appellate Tribunal is closed and by reason thereof the act cannot be done on that day, it may be done on the next day on which that office opens. 24. Powers and functions of the Registrar :- (1) The Registrar shall have the custody of the records of the Appellate Tribunal and shall exercise such other functions as are assigned to him under these rules or by the Presiding Officer by a separate order in writing. (2) The official seal shall be kept in the custody of the Registrar. (3) Subject to any general or special direction by the Presiding Officer, the seal of the Appellate Tribunal shall not be affixed to any order, summons or other process save under the authority in writing from the Registrar. (4) The seal of the Appellate Tribunal shall not be affixed to any certified copy issued by the Appellate Tribunal save under the authority in writing of the Registrar. 25. Additional powers and duties of Registrar :- In addition to the powers conferred elsewhere in these rules, the Registrar shall have the following powers and duties subject to any general or special orders of the Presiding Officer, namely:- (1) to receive all appeals and other documents; (2) to decide all questions arising out of the scrutiny of the appeals before they are registered; (3) to require any appeal presented to the Appellate Tribunal to be amended in accordance with the rules; (4) subject to the directions of the Presiding Officer, to fix the date of hearing of the appeals or other proceedings and issue notice thereof; (5) direct any formal amendment of records; (6) to order grant of copies of documents to parties to proceedings; ( 7) to grant leave to inspect the records of the Appellate Tribunal; (8) dispose of all matters relating to the service of notices or other processes, application for the issue of fresh notice or for extending the time for or ordering a particular method of service on a respondent including a substituted service by publication of the notice by way of advertisements in the newspapers; (9) to requisition records from the custody of any court or other authority. 26. Seal and emblem :- The official seal and emblem of the Appellate Tribunal shall be such as the Central Government may specify.