Delays likely in SAT cases as key post falls vacant in Dec

Rules do not permit the tribunal to pass orders without the presence of a judicial member

- Pavan Burugula & Priyanka Gawande

Cases pending with the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) may face delays as the presiding officer of the tribunal leaves office early next month, said two lawyers privy to the development. Justice Tarun Agarwala, the presiding officer and judicial member of the tribunal, is expected to retire in December due to which the tribunal may not have a judicial member on the bench. Rules do not permit SAT to pass orders without the presence of a judicial member. The vacancy could impact many cases that are pending before the tribunal right now including appeals filed by Reliance Industries, Bombay Dyeing and Kotak AMC.

Currently, the bench is fast-tracking the cases in final stages to ensure that the verdicts are rendered before December, said lawyers cited above.

If an entity needs emergency relief from Sebi, it will have to move high courts where the process typically takes longer than SAT since the latter is a specialized body created to hear security market appeals, legal experts say.