By July, Sebi plans to clear probes pending for a year

An ambitious plan drawn out by the regulator will see the investigations in all cases pending over a year being concluded on a war footing by July 1. Further, Sebi has also drawn up a master plan for its investigation department, according to which all the new cases of investigation, post July 2004, will be completed within 12 months of the launch of the probe.

A top Sebi official said: 8216;8216;We are planning to have zero backlog of cases which are pending for over one year. We8217;ve also chalked out a plan by which the investigation department will complete all the preliminary investigations within four months. The investigating officer will also have to submit a weekly progress report. In case of a delay, the official will be asked to give reasons. If a full-fledged probe is required, we8217;ve given them the officials the instructions to complete it within eight months of the preliminary investigation, so that the average of 12 months can be maintained8221;.

During the last financial year, Sebi completed investigations into over 150 cases, 50 per cent more than the previous year.

In the past, Sebi8217;s track record of concluding investigations cases which were over a year old was not up to the mark. On an average, investigations into 30 cases were concluded each year before 2001-02. In 2003-04, the prosecution department of Sebi8217;s investigation wing has filed more than 400 cases in different courts across the country. The top brass of the regulator, including the Sebi chairman and two wholetime board members, passed more than 300 orders during the year through which various penal actions on market intermediaries were imposed, said Sebi sources.