The Supreme Court on Monday refused to interfere with a judgment passed by the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) that had quashed a ₹15-crore fine imposed by Sebi on Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) chairman Mukesh Ambani for alleged manipulative trades relating to erstwhile Reliance Petroleum Limited (RPL).

“We are now in November 2024. The appeals were filed in 2023 in a transaction that is 30-years old,” the apex court remarked while dismissing Sebi's (Securities and Exchanges Board of India) appeal against the SAT's November 2023 order by which it quashed the market regulator’s fines on Ambani and others.

A bench of Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice R. Mahadevan, however, listed for December 2 hearings of other appeals relating to the imposition of a ₹25-crore penalty on RIL and a ₹20-crore fine on Navi Mumbai SEZ.

Senior advocate Arvind Datar appearing for Sebi tried to reason that the market regulator had rightly imposed the penalty on Mukesh Ambani.

The bench declined to entertain the plea as it upheld the reasoning of the SAT the RIL chairman cannot be held vicariously responsible for the alleged manipulative transactions merely because he was heading the organisation and was in charge of its various operations.

The apex court concurred with the SAT’s view that manipulation had occurred due to apparent involvement of certain other individuals without Ambani’s knowledge. Senior advocate Harish Salve, who appeared for Mukesh Ambani, defended SAT’s order.

Sebi had earlier in 2021 imposed the hefty fines on Ambani and other entities after holding them guilty of manipulating the futures and options trade by taking a short position through a dozen agents/entities thus manipulating the prices in the stock market.

The case pertains to the sale and purchase of RPL shares in the cash and futures segments in November 2007.