Delhi High Court - Orders
People Activism Forum & Anr vs Union Of Inida & Ors on 22 May, 2024
$~111
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ W.P.(C) 7378/2024 & CM APPL. 30858/2024
PEOPLE ACTIVISM FORUM & ANR. ..... Petitioners
Through: Mr. Gaurav Agarwal, Sr. Advocate
with Mr. Rohan Thawani, Advocate
and Mr. Pratul Pratap Singh,
Advocate.
versus
UNION OF INIDA & ORS. ..... Respondents
Through: Mr. Ravi Prakash, CGSC for UOI
with Mr. Abhishek Singh, G.P. and
Ms. Astu Khandelwal, Mr. Ali Khan,
Mr. Taha Yasin, Mr. Yasharth
Shukla, Mr. Aalok Kumar and Mr.
Ayushman Kishore, Advocates.
Mob: 97174 17603
Mr. J. Sai Deepak, Mr. Abhishek
Baid and Mr. Anup Jain, Advocates
for R-2
Mob: 99994697771
CORAM:
HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE MINI PUSHKARNA
ORDER
% 22.05.2024 CM APPL. 30858/2024 (For Exemption)
1. Exemption allowed, subject to just exceptions.
2. Application is disposed of.
W.P.(C) 7378/2024
3. The present petition has been filed with the following prayers:
Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:CHARU CHAUDHARY Signing Date:27.05.2024 09:28:25"xxx xxx xxx A) Issue a Writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction commanding the Respondent No. 1, Union of India, and the Respondent No. 2, Securities & Exchange Board of India, to grant permission for the Initial Public Offering of the Respondent No. 3, the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd.;
B) Issue a Writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction commanding the Respondent No. 1, Union of India, and the Respondent No. 2, Securities & Exchange Board of India, to grant permission for the listing of the existing equity shares of the Respondent No. 3, the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. on the stock exchanges; and/or xxx xxx xxx"
4. Learned Senior Counsel appearing for the petitioner has drawn the attention of this Court to Para 4.15 at page no. 178 of the Annual Report, dealing with the update on listing, which is a part of Annual Report of the National Stock Exchange ("NSE"), which reads as under:
"xxx xxx xxx 4.15 Update on listing SEBI, vide its letter dated February 5, 2019, interalia communicated that as per the SEBI ICDR Regulations 2018, any decrease in the number of shares offered for sale by more than 50% would require the fresh filing of offer document with SEBI and hence, the DRHP filed was being returned.
SEBI in its order with respect to the colocation technology matter passed certain directions inter alia prohibiting NSE from raising funds from the market, through the issuance of equity, debt or other securities for a period of six months from the date of the said order, being April 30, 2019. The said prohibition had expired on October 30, 2019. NSE has requested SEBI to convey its no-objection to enable it to proceed with its IPO plan and for filing the DRHP. Response from SEBI is awaited.
xxx xxx xxx"
(Emphasis Supplied) Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:CHARU CHAUDHARY Signing Date:27.05.2024 09:28:25
5. By relying upon the same, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner submits that there is no hindrance to the enlisting of the shares of the NSE with the Securities & Exchange Board of India ("SEBI").
6. Per contra, learned counsel appearing for respondent no. 2-SEBI submits that the present petition is not maintainable. He submits that the present petition has been filed in the nature of a Public Interest Litigation in the garb of a writ petition, which is in violation of the PIL Rules. He further lays challenge to the locus of the petitioner who has filed the present petition.
7. He further submits that a writ petition would not be maintainable with respect to a regulatory procedure, which is statutory in nature.
8. Considering the preliminary submissions raised by learned counsel appearing for the respondent no. 2-SEBI, it is directed that the respondents shall file their short note of submissions with respect to their objections, along with the documents that they wish to reply upon.
9. Let the needful be done within a period of four weeks. Rejoinder thereto, if any, be filed within a period of two weeks thereafter.
10. Re-notify on 14th August, 2024.
MINI PUSHKARNA, J MAY 22, 2024 ak Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:CHARU CHAUDHARY Signing Date:27.05.2024 09:28:25