Supreme Court Dismisses Riddhi Siddhi Appeal Against SAT Order In SEBI Delisting, MPS Norm Violations Case

The Supreme Court recently dismissed appeals filed by Riddhi Siddhi Gluco Biols Limited against the Securities Appellate Tribunal's order upholding SEBI's findings of violation of minimum public shareholding norms, non-disclosure of promoter group entities, and fraudulent trading in the company's scrip during a proposed delisting process, holding that no substantial question of law arises for consideration.

A division bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice K. Vinod Chandran refused to interfere with the Tribunal's decision, observing that there was “no reason whatsoever” to interfere with the findings.

The appeals before the SAT arose from SEBI proceedings in relation to the proposed delisting of the company, involving allegations of irregular trading in the scrip, non-disclosure of promoter group entities, and violation of minimum public shareholding (MPS) norms.

SEBI had found that entities such as Stuti Trademart Pvt Ltd, Siwana Agri Marketing Ltd and Vital Connections Pvt Ltd, were in fact part of the promoter group, though not disclosed as such, which led to promoter shareholding exceeding the permissible limit and consequent breach of MPS requirements.

In a detailed order, the Tribunal affirmed SEBI's findings on MPS violations and fraudulent trading. However, the tribunal partly modified the penalties on proportionality grounds and reduced the period of debarment.

Endorsing the Tribunal's conclusions, the Supreme Court observed:

“we find no reason whatsoever to interfere with the impugned final order dated 09.03.2026 passed by the Securities Appellate Tribunal at Mumbai in Appeal Nos. 543/2021 and 588/2021. No substantial question of law arises for consideration in our opinion.”

Accordingly, the appeals were dismissed.

For Appellants: Senior Advocates Mukul Rohatgi, Balbir Singh, Advocates Samir Malik, Mahip Singh Sikarwar, Ayushi Panday, Naman Tandan and DSK Legal, AOR

For Respondents: Senior Advocates Naveen Pahwa, Chander Uday Singh and Advocate Abhishek Singh