Act 022 of 2013 : Securities and Exchange Board of India (Amendment) Act, 2013

Preamble

Securities and Exchange Board of India (Amendment) Act, 20131

[Act 22 of 2013, Repealed by Act 23 of 2016*][12th September, 2013]

An Act further to amend the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992

Be it enacted by Parliament in the Sixty-fourth Year of the Republic of India as follows:-

1 Received the assent of the President on September 12, 2013 and published in the Gazette of India, Extra., Part II, Section 1, dated 13th September, 2013, pp. 1-2, No. 31.

* Ed.: Act 22 of 2013 repealed by Act 23 of 2016, S. 2 & Sch. I. See also S. 4 of the Repealing and Amending Act, 2016:

"4. Savings.- The repeal by this Act of any enactment shall not affect any other enactment in which the repealed enactment has been applied, incorporated or referred to;

and this Act shall not affect the validity, invalidity, effect or consequences of anything already done or suffered, or any right, title, obligation or liability already acquired, accrued or incurred, or any remedy or proceeding in respect thereof, or any release or discharge of or from any debt, penalty, obligation, liability, claim or demand, or any indemnity already granted, or the proof of any past act or thing;

nor shall this Act affect any principle or rule of law, or established jurisdiction, form or course of pleading, practice or procedure, or existing usage, custom, privilege, restriction, exemption, office or appointment, notwithstanding that the same respectively may have been in any manner affirmed or recognised or derived by, in or from any enactment hereby repealed;

nor shall the repeal by this Act of any enactment revive or restore any jurisdiction, office, custom, liability, right, title, privilege, restriction, exemption, usage, practice, procedure or other matter or thing not now existing or in force."

SOR Statement of Objects and Reasons

Prefatory Note-Statement of Object and Reasons.-The Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992 (SEBI Act) was enacted to provide for the establishment of the Securities and Exchange Board of India to protect the interests of investors in securities and to promote the development of, and to regulate, the securities market.

2. The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) was established under Section 15-K of the SEBI Act to adjudicate upon appeals against the decisions of the Securities and Exchange Board of India. Section 15-M of the said Act, relating to qualifications for appointment as the Presiding Officer of the SAT, provides that a person shall not be qualified for appointment as the Presiding Officer of the SAT unless he is a sitting or retired Judge of the Supreme Court or a sitting or retired Chief Justice of a High Court.

3. The post of Presiding Officer of the SAT has been lying vacant since the 29th November, 2011 due to non-availability of a suitable candidate. Efforts to identify a suitable candidate to take up the assignment under the existing eligibility criteria, have not met with success, and, therefore, the post has been lying vacant. The absence of a Presiding Officer has been hampering the functioning of the Tribunal, which is the appellate authority of the Security and Exchange Board of India. The Tribunal is important for smooth functioning of the capital markets.

4. In view of the above difficulties, there was a need to enlarge the field of selection for the post of Presiding Officer of SAT by including sitting or retired Judges of a High Court with a minimum of seven years of service as a Judge of a High Court as one of the qualifications for the post of Presiding Officer of SAT.

5. As there was an urgent need to fill the post of Presiding Officer of SAT and Parliament was not in session, it became necessary to amend Section 15-M of the SEBI Act by way of promulgation of an Ordinance so as to include the sitting or retired Judges of a High Court with a minimum of seven years of service as a Judge of a High Court as one of the qualifications for the post of Presiding Officer of the SAT. Accordingly, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Amendment) Ordinance, 2013 was promulgated on the 21st January, 2013.

6. The Bill seeks to replace the aforesaid Ordinance.

Section 1. Short title and commencement

1. Short title and commencement.-(1) This Act may be called the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Amendment) Act, 2013.

(2) It shall be deemed to have come into force on the 21st day of January, 2013.

Section 2. Amendment of Section 15-M

2. Amendment of Section 15-M.-In Section 15-M of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992 (15 of 1992), for sub-section (1), the following sub-sections shall be substituted, namely:-

"(1) A person shall not be qualified for appointment as the Presiding Officer of the Securities Appellate Tribunal unless he-

(a) is a sitting or retired Judge of the Supreme Court or a sitting or retired Chief Justice of a High Court; or

(b) is a sitting or retired Judge of a High Court who has completed not less than seven years of service as a Judge in a High Court.

(1-A) The Presiding Officer of the Securities Appellate Tribunal shall be appointed by the Central Government in consultation with the Chief Justice of India or his nominee.".

Section 3. Repeal and saving

3. Repeal and saving.-(1) The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Amendment) Second Ordinance, 2013 (Ord. 5 of 2013) is hereby repealed.

(2) Notwithstanding such repeal, anything done or any action taken under the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992 (15 of 1992), as amended by the said Ordinance, shall be deemed to have been done or taken under the corresponding provisions of that Act, as amended by this Act.

SECTIONS