The Supreme Court on Wednesday came down heavily on the CBI and Sebi for their “reluctance” to probe allegations of “dubious transactions” against Sammaan Capital (previously known as Indiabulls Housing Finance) and directed the director to hold a meeting with officials of Sebi, SFIO and the ED to look into the matter.
Shares of the company slumped 12.47% to close at Rs 159.75 on the BSE.
Later in the day, Sammaan Capital said the Supreme Court’s order does not level any allegation against the company, and only allows regulators to re-examine concerns raised about its former promoter.
The matter will be heard next on December 17.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant, Ujjal Bhuyan and N Kotiswar Singh, which also pulled up the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) for compounding of multiple offences allegedly committed the company, pulled up Sebi over the “double standards” adopted by the markets regulator in different cases under its jurisdiction to probe into illegalities.
What did the apex court say?
The top court asked what was preventing the authorities from filing an FIR and probing the allegations. It said that in the meeting to be held by the CBI director with officials of Sebi, SFIO and the ED, the closure of cases by the MCA shall not be an impediment and all allegations levelled by NGO Citizens Whistle Blower Forum will be looked into.
What did Sammaan Capital argue ?
Senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi, who is representing the company in the court, said the firm has “no defaults, no outstanding dues, and no proceedings pending before any regulatory or enforcement agency, including Sebi, RBI, Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) and CBI.” He added that the same position had earlier been placed before the high court, where all regulators gave a clean chit.
Sammaan Capital said it is a “promoter-less, professionally-run company” with more than 450,000 public shareholders. BlackRock and Life Insurance Company are its largest shareholders with around 5% stake each. The previous promoter, Sameer Gehlaut, exited the company in 2022–23 and currently holds no shares.
Rohatgi said Sammaan Capital has “nothing to hide” and has “no objection to any inquiry”. The company is open to being examined “once, twice or even thrice”, he added. (With inputs from PTI)
