Govt appoints 2 to securities appellate tribunal
The Centre appointed retired justice PS Dinesh Kumar as the presiding officer of the Securities Appellate Tribunal for four years. Kumar was the chief justice of the Karnataka high court. Justice Dheeraj Bhatnagar, retired principal chief commissioner of income tax, has been appointed technical member, said a gazette notification by the ministry of finance.
SAT comprises a presiding officer who will be a retired judge and two members – one judicial and one technical. The presiding officer’s position was vacant for over three months after justice Tarun Agarwala retired in December 2023. Justice Meera Swarup was the only technical member on the bench after justice Agarwala retired.
In January, Kumar was appointed acting chief justice of the Karnataka high court, but soon became the chief justice of the court. With a career spanning over 34 years, Kumar started in 1990 and gradually became an additional judge in Karnataka High Court in 2015.
He has served as the standing counsel in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and senior standing counsel for BSNL, Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), University Grants Commission (UGC), All India Counsel for Technical Education (AICTE), and National Counsel for Teacher Education (NCTE).
Securities Appellate Tribunal is a statutory body established under the provisions of Section 15K of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992.
SAT hears and disposes of appeals against orders passed by Sebi, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) and Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA).
“SAT will now function at its full sanctioned strength. This will reduce the pendency of cases that increased due to the post of the Judicial Member being vacant for a period of almost 3 months.” said Amarpal Singh Dua, an independent securities law practitioner.
“In addition, since the judgement in important cases like Bombay Dyeing and Franklin Templeton was reserved by the erstwhile presiding officer (Agarwala) before his retirement, the newly appointed members will hear these cases again. The judgment in these cases has been awaited for some time now,” Dua added.
