SC refuses to hear plea against reappointment of SEBI chief

The Supreme Court today refused to entertain a plea challenging the reappointment of U K Sinha as Chairman of market regulator Security and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) till 2017, saying there is no bar on it. “We are not inclined to hear this,” a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur said, when senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for the petitioner, sought issuance of a notice on the plea seeking quashing of appointment of Sinha as SEBI head.

Jaising referred to the alleged flouting of rules or norms by the Centre in appointing Sinha and said that he has been reappointed despite the fact that the selection committee did not include his name in the list of the shortlisted candidates for the post.

Moreover, no vigilance clearance was there, she said, alleging that there has been some connection of this appointment with the Saradha Chit Fund scam case.

“We have already directed the CBI to look into all the aspects, including the role of regulators (SEBI, RBI) in the scam,” the bench also comprising Justices R Banumathi and U U Lalit said. The bench was hearing a plea filed by a former Indian Revenue Service officer Udai Babu Khalwadekar.

The tenure of Sinha, who had taken over as SEBI chief in 2011, was extended by the government with his reappointment in 2014 for a period of three years—till March 1, 2017.