Ajay Tyagi, who passed over the baton at the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to Madhabi Puri Buch on Wednesday, said the market regulator tried in earnest to investigate the co-location matter at the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and that it acted according to its remit and understanding on the case.

The outgoing Sebi chairman was speaking at a press conference here after handing over the charge to his successor.

Buch, who will be the tenth chief of Sebi, will be the first woman to head the watchdog. She was appointed earlier this week by the Centre for a period of three years.

Tyagi’s comments come at a time agencies such as the income tax department and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) are looking into the scam that occurred between 2010 and 2015.

Sebi has been criticised for not taking any strict action against the offenders. A recent order from the market regulator caught the nation’s attention as it said that the former CEO of NSE took orders from a mystic yogi residing in the Himalayas.

Pointing out that the NSE case pertains to events that occurred more than a decade ago, Tyagi said Sebi started investigations under him in the right earnest.

“We came out with orders within our remit and understanding,” he said while admitting that the matter was complex.

The outgoing Sebi chairman, who rejected the contention that its orders were diluted or weak in the case, maintained that penalties were one of the highest by any financial regulators.