The total number of cases pending at the Securities Appellant Tribunal (SAT) has surged over 50% in 2024. The number of cases pending for adjudication has grown to 1,121 cases in 2024 against 736 in 2023, as per the latest data from the finance ministry.
Also, in terms of pending cases, 2024 saw the highest number in at least last five years, data showed. In 2022, 2021 and 2020 there were 842,770 and 646 cases pending, respectively.
This surge in numbers comes despite SAT passing nearly double the number of orders compared to the previous year. According to data, SAT disposed of 370 cases in 2024 against 187 cases in 2023.
SAT is a tribunal that hears appeals against market regulator the Securities and Exchange Board of India(Sebi). SAT is also empowered to hear appeals against insurance regulator, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India and pension regulator Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority(PFRDA).
However, more than 95% of cases heard by SAT are appeals against the market regulator Sebi. Of the 1,121 cases that were pending in SAT as on December 31,2024, 1105 were appeals against Sebi, 16 were appeals against IRDAI. There were no cases filed or pending against PFRDA during 2024, data showed.
The SAT currently has a single bench comprising of three members: one presiding officer and two technical members. It is based in Mumbai.
This surge in pending cases comes in the backdrop of heightened regulatory action from Sebi over the last few years, especially in 2023 and 2022. According to the annual reports of Sebi, the market regulator had passed 3,731 adjudication orders in FY23 and 2,369 orders in FY22.
Barring these two years, the total number of orders passed by Sebi in a year on an average is around 1,500 cases.
In FY23 and FY22, Sebi passed several orders in front running cases for alleged manipulation of smaller stocks and several of these have been appealed in SAT, say legal experts. Of the 5,191 orders passed by Sebi in FY23 and FY22, 2,452 pertained to front running. Disclosure lapses by companies and insider trading cases are the other key categories of cases where Sebi has passed a significant number of orders during the period, Sebi’s annual report showed.
This increasing case load on SAT has brought into focus the need for additional benches to take up the appeals, say legal experts. In the Union Budget for 2016, the government had announced it would constitute a new bench of SAT in order to reduce the pending litigation. However, the government is yet to implement the proposal.
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