Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT)

Securities Appellate Tribunal is a statutory body developed under the provisions of Section 15K of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act. Securities Appellate Tribunal was mainly established to hear an appeal against the order passed by the SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) or by an adjudicating officer under the SEBI Act. In this article, we look at the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) in detail.

Composition of Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT)

Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) would consist of the following:

One presiding Officer
Other members

Presiding Officer

The Central Government will appoint the presiding Officer of Securities Appellate Tribunal in discussion with the chief justice of India or nominee. The person so appointed as the presiding OfficerOfficer should meet with the following requirements:

The retired or sitting judge of the supreme court
The retired or sitting judge of the high court
The retired or sitting judge of the high court, who has completed at least seven years of service as a judge in a high court.

Members

The Central Government will appoint the two members of the Securities Appellate Tribunal. The member so appointed should possess the following qualities:

The member should be capable of dealing with problems related to the securities market.
The member should possess qualification and experience related to corporate law, securities laws, economics, finance or accountancy.

Tenure

Presiding Officer: The tenure for Presiding Officer will be five years from the date of appointment or re-appointment. Members: The tenure for the member will be five years from the date of appointment or re-appointment.

Power of Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT)

The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) will have the same powers as vested in a civil court under the code of civil procedure while trying a suit, with respect of the following matters namely:

Enforce and summon the attendance of any person
Require the discovery and production of documents
Receive evidence on affidavits
Issue commissions for the examination of the documents or witnesses
Dismiss an application for default or deciding it ex-parte
Set aside any order or dismissal of any application for default or any other order passed by it ex-parte
Any other matter as and when prescribed.

Who can make an appeal?

Every person aggrieved by order of the Securities and Exchange Board of India or adjudicating officer is liable to make an appeal to the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT). Note: No appeal can be made to the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) against any order made with the consent of the parties.

Time Limit

Every appeal to the Securities Appellate Tribunal should be filed within 45 days from the day on which a copy of the order passed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India or adjudicating office is received.
The Securities Appellate Tribunal may allow an appeal after the expiry of the specified period of 45 days if the reason for not filing the appeal with the said period is satisfied.
The appeal should be made in three copies along with the additional copies for each additional appeal, and that should be signed by the authorised person.
On receipt of the appeal, the Securities Appellate Tribunal may confirm, modify or set aside the order appealed against and such appeal should be disposed of within 6 months from the date of receipt of such appeal.

Appear before SAT

As per the SEBI Act, any authorised person is a Company Secretary, Chartered Accountant (CA), Cost Accountant or Legal Practitioner can appear before Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT).

Appeal against the orders of SAT

Every person aggrieved by any order or decision of Securities Appellate Tribunal can file an appeal to the supreme court. Also, the appeal only can be made on any question of law.
The appeal should be made within 60 days from the date of receiving a copy of the order or decision of Securities Appellate Tribunal. However, the supreme court may further allow a period of 60 days for making an appeal, if it satisfied that the applicant was prevented from filing the appeal within the first 60 days due to sufficient cause.

Procedure for Appeal

An appeal should be presented in the prescribed form by any aggrieved person in the registry of the appellate tribunal within whose jurisdiction falls or can be sent by registered post addressed to the Registrar. The appeal sent by post should be presented in the registry on the same date on which it was received in the registry.

Scheduled Fee

Every appeal should be made along with an application fee remitted in the form of Demand Draft drawn on any nationalised bank and such fee is payable at the place where the registry is located. The amount of fee payable for appeal against adjudication orders made are as follows:

S.No	Amount of Penalty Imposed	Amount of Fees Payable
1.	Less than Rs.10,000	Rs.500
2.	Rs.10,000 or more	Rs.1,200
3.	Rs.1 lakh or more	Rs.1,200 inclusive of Rs.500 for every one lakh of penalty.

Note: The fee payable for any other appeal against an order of the Board under the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act should be of Rs.5000.