Sebi moves SC against DLF's plan to raise money

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has moved the Supreme Court, seeking a restraint order on the plans of realty major DLF to monetise its rental properties. The court has admitted the application and listed it for hearing on October 30.

Last week, debt-laden DLF had said some promoter group entities planned to sell about 40 per cent stake in DLF Cyber City Developers, the company holding its rental assets, to third-party investors. The transaction was to raise Rs 12,000-14,000 crore. Soon after the announcement, the DLF stock jumped to a month’s high of Rs 142.9 on the National Stock Exchange on Friday, up 18 per cent from its mid-September low of Rs 121.15. Since then, the stock has pared the gains, closing at Rs 134.6 on Thursday.

In its application, Sebi has said, “The proposed action of persons, including the respondent, would not have been possible if the whole-time member (WTM)’s order was in force. In fact, subsequent to such transactions, if this court were to restore the WTM’s order, the proposed transactions would be in the teeth of the order.”

In an e-mail, a DLF spokesperson said: “ Sebi has already appealed against the SAT (Securities Appellate Tribunal) order of March 13, 2015, before the Supreme Court. It has been admitted. We would like to reiterate there is no bar on the company or any of its directors accessing the capital markets at present.”

The regulator said the proposed transactions were also in the teeth of its pending application for interim relief. Sebi appealed to the court that DLF be restrained from dealing with any securities, directly or indirectly, until its appeal was heard and disposed of. It also sought directions barring the realtor from further proceeding with the proposed transactions in relation to the rental assets in any manner.

“In the alternative, direct that any dealing in any manner whatsoever by the respondent shall be subject to the outcome of the present appeal,” the petition added.

In an order dated October 10, 2014, Sebi had restrained DLF and six of its senior executives from accessing the securities market for three years. The individual entities named in the Sebi order included Rajiv Singh (vice-chairman), T C Goyal (managing director), Pia Singh (whole-time director), Kameshwar Swarup (executive director, legal), G S Talwar (director) and Ramesh Sanka (chief financial officer).

In March, SAT quashed the Sebi order, saying the case was one of over-regulation by the capital markets regulator. Of the three-member SAT bench, Jog Singh and A S Lamba favoured quashing the ban, while presiding officer J P Devadhar was in favour of a six-month ban.

In April, Sebi moved the Supreme Court. In the appeal, the regulator contested several grounds of the SAT order, including SAT’s observation that the Sebi board’s clearance wasn’t taken before initiating the investigation proceedings. Sebi’s argued being a quasi-judicial body, it had powers to act on its own accord.

The case relates to non-disclosure of certain information by the company during its initial public offering in 2007, which had garnered about Rs 9,000 crore.