STOCK BROKER Ketan Parekh, and others booked with him, recently approached court seeking to compound all pending offences filed against them under the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) Act for violations at the stock exchange. The cases include 27 offences including violations in trading and non-payment of penalty. Sebi is likely to file its reply on the plea on Saturday. "The applicants (Parekh and others) are approaching this Court without any admission and/or denial of any guilt, with the sole intention of compounding the alleged offences charged against them and to buy peace of mind," the plea says, adding that they are willing to pay the penalty under the Act. "Since the complaint has been filed in 2013 for the alleged violations of 1997, almost 25 years have elapsed, and the applicants have a strong case for consideration of their request for compounding of the alleged offences," the plea states. They also meet Sebi's settlement regulations, the plea states, and are ready to do all acts mandated by Sebi Act to compound the offences. The plea further says that as per a judgment, consent of Sebi is not mandatory for compounding before the court where proceedings are pending. It says the intention of Legislature behind enacting the Sebi Act is to provide opportunity to the accused to do good for any default, and a lenient approach must be taken against them considering the history of the litigation runs more than 25 years. It states the cost involved in conducting prosecution proceedings, including time and energy, is higher than the subject matter of the complaint, and hence resolving it amicably will end litigation and save the court's time. In 2019, Parekh and others had similarly sought to compound five cases but it was rejected by the special Sebi court considering that Sebi had not agreed to it based on the material against them. The offence under which they are booked includes section 24 (2) of SEBI Act, which provides for punishment of imprisonment for not less than one month, extending upto 10 years, or with a fine, extending upto 25 crore, or both, if penalty is not paid. The Act allows for compounding before the court. Special public prosecutor Anubha Rastogi said that a reply will be filed by Sebi on the pleas on Saturday.
