The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) has dismissed Karvy Stock Broking Limited’s appeal against a 2023 Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) order after refusing to condone a 688-day delay in filing the appeal.
A three-member bench of SAT held that the reasons cited by Karvy for the delay were not genuine and lacked bona fides. The tribunal dismissed the appeal without examining the merits of Karvy’s challenge to the SEBI order.
Karvy had challenged SEBI’s April 28, 2023 final order in the matter, which followed proceedings over the alleged misuse of clients’ securities and funds and imposed various directions and penalties on the stock broker and others.
The company argued that it had not received a certified copy of the SEBI order and that access to relevant records was difficult because agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate (ED), had conducted searches and seized documents. It also cited the health condition and incarceration of its chairman and managing director, C Parthasarathy.
SEBI opposed the plea, pointing out that the order had been served on Parthasarathy on May 6, 2023. SAT noted that SEBI had produced a speed-post acknowledgement and that Karvy had not categorically denied receipt of the order.