SC upholds RIL fine on Jio-Facebook deal

The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected Reliance Industries Ltd’s (RIL) appeal against a Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) order that had upheld a ₹30-lakh penalty on two of its compliance officers for the delayed disclosure of the ₹43,574-crore Facebook-Jio investment deal in 2020.

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A Supreme Court bench declined to intervene.

A bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi declined to intervene, noting that the order rested entirely on factual findings and did not raise any substantial question of law.

On 20 June 2022, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) imposed penalties on RIL compliance officers, Savithri Parekh and K. Sethuraman, for allegedly violating the Sebi (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015. It found RIL had failed to promptly disclose unpublished price-sensitive information on Facebook's investment negotiations with Jio Platforms, particularly after details were reported in international media in March 2020.