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ORDER (UNDER
RULE 5(1) OF THE SEBI (PROCEDURE FOR HOLDING ENQUIRY AND IMPOSING PENALTY BY
THE ADJUDICATING OFFICER) RULES, 1995) AGAINST M/s ADARSH DERIVATIVES LTD. ��������� 1.
These
proceedings arise consequent to the order of the Securities an Exchange Board
of India (SEBI) dated� November 2, 2005 to
enquire into and adjudge the�
contravention of Regulation 53A of the SEBI (Depositories and
Participants) Regulations, 1996 read with Section 15HB of the SEBI Act, 1992
(for brevity�s sake, hereinafter referred to as the Regulations and the Act
respectively) by M/s Adarsh Derivatives Limited (for brevity�s sake, hereinafter
referred to as ADL) in the matter of their alleged failure to appoint a common
share agency for handling the share registry work both for their
dematerialised� and physical securities. � ������� NOTICE/
REPLY/ PERSONAL HEARING: 2.
Accordingly,
ADL was issued a notice dated February 20, 2006 in terms of Rule 4(1) of the
SEBI (Procedure for Holding Enquiry and Imposing Penalty by the Adjudicating
Officer) Rules, 1995 (Rules) in terms of which they were advised to show cause
as to why enquiry proceedings should not be held against them for the alleged
violation of the provisions of Regulation 53A of the Regulations and why the penalty prescribed
under section 15HB of the
Act should not be imposed upon them.
ADL were also advised to make their submissions, if any, along with supporting
documents that they wished to rely upon, within 14 days from the date of the
receipt of the notice. 3.
In
response to the said notice, ADL vide their letter dated March 17, 2006,
inter-alia submitted that a change in control and the management of their
company had been effected by the passing of a special resolution on January 25,
2006 in terms of provisions of the Takeover Regulations and that the new
management had immediately thereafter, on February 01, 2006, appointed M/s.
Pinnacle Shares Registry Private Limited as their common agency for handing all
the share registry work for both the demat and physical shares of the company, in
terms of Regulation 53A of the said Regulations and that the said RTA had also
communicated their consent to act as the common share agency. A faxed copy of
the said communication dated 4.
As
the documentation, evidencing their compliance with Regulation 53A of the said Regulations
was found to be inadequate, a notice of hearing dated May 12, 2006 in terms of
Rule 4(3) of the Rules was issued to ADL advising them to attend the proceedings
to be held on June 6, 2006 along with the documentary proof in support of their
contentions at the time of the hearing. 5.
On the said date, Shri S.D. Israni and Shri
Satyan S. Israni, appeared on behalf of ADL and while agreeing to the delayed
compliance of Regulation 53A of the said Regulations, however stated that the
new management of ADL that had taken control only on January 25, 2006, had immediately
thereafter, initiated steps to appoint M/s. Pinnacle Shares Registry Private
Limited as the common share agency, under an agreement dated March 23, 2006, effective
from February 2006. �A copy of the said bi-partite
agreement entered into between ADL and the RTA was submitted for due perusal. It
was also submitted that ADL had established connectivity with both NSDL and
CDSL. Subsequently, the following
documents under cover of letter dated a) Copy of the agreement dated b) Certified true copy of the Special Resolution dated c) List of key persons of the previous management of
ADL. d) Certified copy of the breakup of demat and physical
shares of ADL. e) Copy of the tri-partite agreement dated f) Copy of the tri-partite agreement dated �������� CONSIDERATION OF ISSUES 6.
Regulation 53A of the Regulations which came into
force on �All matters relating to the transfer of securities,
maintenance of records of holders of securities, handling of physical
securities and establishing connectivity with the depositories shall be handled
and maintained at a single point i.e. either in-house by the issuer or by a
Share Transfer Agent registered with the Board.� 7.
Thus
the provisions of the said Regulation mandates all issuer companies to appoint
a common agency to handle the share registry work relating to both the physical
and demat shares of the company, which can be done either in house or through a
SEBI registered Registrar and Transfer Agent (RTA). 8.
The
object of the appointment of the common share agency which was brought out in SEBI
Circular No. D&CC/FITTC/CIR-15/2002 dated a) ����� any delay in dematerialization, and b)������ Non-reconciliation of the share holding
due to lack of proper co-ordination among the concerned agencies or
departments, which was adversely affecting the interest of the investors.� 9.
Thus
the provisions of Regulation 53A of the Regulations would be applicable only to
that company, all of whose shares have been dematerialized or to those
companies whose shares are both in the physical and demat mode but not to those
companies all of whose shares continue to remain in the physical mode. As
regards the shares in the demat mode, before the admission of any security into
the depository system, it would be necessary for the issuer company to
establish electronic connectivity with both the depositories either directly or
through a RTA. 10.
Accordingly, SEBI had earlier brought out a
circular bearing no.FITTC/DC/ Policy-Cir-01/2001 dated 11.
It appears that vide SEBI circular
no.D&CC/FITTC/ Cir-05/2001 dated 12.
Thus
on date, there continue to be companies that have not yet dematerialized their
shares and instead have continued to retain their shares in a physical mode and
the transfers, maintenance of record of the holders of securities and handling of the
said physical securities in such cases is continued to be done in-house or
through a registered share transfer agent. 13.
�Keeping in
mind these facts and
circumstances and the documents on record, the limited issue that arises for my
consideration is the extent of liability if any, on the part of ADL as regards
the delayed compliance with Regulation 53A of the said Regulations. 14.
The documents submitted by ADL testify to the fact that
a new set of directors had taken control over ADL consequent to a change in
control and management of the company that was duly approved through a special
resolution dated 15.
Considering that approximately about 40% of the
shares of ADL are in the physical form while the remaining 60% are in the demat
form, it is evident that from 1999 till 2006 (the time of the appointment of
Pinnacle as common share agency under an agreement dated March 23, 2006
effective from February 01, 2006) there was no agency to handle the share
registry work relating to the demat shares of ADL �and from 2002 till the date of the present
appointment of Pinnacle, there was no agency on record to handle the share
registry work relating to both the physical and demat shares of the said company.
16.
It
is however noted that connectively had been established with both the
depositories in the year 2000 itself to enable the shareholders of ADL to
dematerialize their shares and for this purpose, ADL had also entered into the
necessary tri-partite agreements with both NSDL and CDSL respectively. I have
perused the copies of the tripartite agreement dated 17.���� It is
thus evident that in the interim period, there has admittedly been a non
compliance of the mandate prescribed in Regulation 53A of the said Regulations.
The present management of ADL have however sought exoneration of their
liability as regards the said non compliance, on the ground that immediately
after taking control of the company, they had ensured all regulatory
compliances to be in place and towards that end had appointed a common share
agency with effect from February 2006. 18����� Although there has been a
delay of around 2 � years
after the due date of compliance, in adhering to the mandate stipulated by
SEBI, in the contextual facts of the case, I am inclined to believe that the liability of the previous management of
ADL cannot be shifted to the new management, unless negligence on their part is
proved. The submissions made by the representatives of ADL and the documents on
record corroborate the
finding that the new management of ADL has
taken all due care having regard to their duty and responsibility, and had
affected the necessary compliance immediately after taking control over the
company. Besides there is no evidence on record evidencing any loss suffered by
the shareholders of ADL, viz. complaints against ADL etc. In view thereof, I am
of the considered opinion that no cognizance is required to be taken for the
belated compliance of Regulation 53A of the Regulations and the imposition of any penalty in
the present matter is not necessitated. 19.��� Hence on a judicious exercise of the
discretion conferred upon me, and after analyzing all the material available on
record as well as factors laid down in Section 15J of the SEBI Act, 1992, i.e.
the amount of disproportionate and unfair advantage wherever quantifiable as a
result of the default, the amount of loss to an investor or a group of
investors as a result of the default, the repetitive nature of the default, all
of which are in the negative, I in
exercise of the powers conferred upon me under Rule 5 of the SEBI (Procedure
for Holding Enquiry and Imposing Penalty by the Adjudicating Officer) Rules,
1995, am inclined to hold
that� the imposition of any penalty in
the present matter is not warranted and accordingly the proceedings initiated against M/s Adarsh Derivatives Limited
are hereby dropped.� PLACE: MUMBAI���������������������������� �� ������ �G. BABITA RAYUDU
DATE:
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