Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI): V.S. Sundaresan, Adjudicating Officer, quashed the adjudicating proceedings initiated against ABG Shipyard Limited, holding them to be infructuous.
SEBI examined the status of compliance with the provisions of SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, by ABG Shipyard (“Noticee”), whose equity shares are listed on BSE and NSE. During the examination, SEBI observed that the Noticee did not make requisite disclosure under Regulation 40(10) read with 40(9), Regulation 7(3) and 13(3) of LODR Regulations.
On 8-8-2019, V.S. Sundaresan was appointed as Adjudicating Officer to inquire into and adjudge in the manner specified under Rule 4 of SEBI (Procedure for Holding Inquiry and Imposing Penalties) Rules, 1995 read with Section 15-I (1) and (2) of SEBI Act, and if satisfied, impose a penalty. Accordingly, Notice was issued ABG Shipyard.
During enquiry, it was observed that the National Company Law Tribunal, vide its order dated 25-4-2019, had ordered the commencement of liquidation of Noticee and also appointed a liquidator therefor under Section 34(2) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016; whereas, the instant adjudication proceedings were initiated vide order dated 8-8-2019.
In order to examine the maintainability of the instant adjudication proceedings against the Noticee, the Board referred to Section 446 of the Companies Act, 1956, and its corresponding Section 279 of the Companies Act, 2013, whose provisions are in pari materia, insofar as the commencement or continuation of any “other legal proceedings”, after appointment of liquidator, are concerned.
Referring also to the decision of the Bombay High Court in Deutsche Bank v. S.P. Kala, (1990) 67 Com Cases, the Board observed: “… it is mandatory and a pre-condition to obtain the leave of NCLT for commencing the instant proceedings against the Noticee, which is under liquidation in terms of order dated April 25, 2019 passed by NCLT. It is pertinent to note that there is no material on record to suggest that leave of NCLT has been taken in the instant proceedings.”. It was concluded that instant adjudication proceedings against the Noticee had been initiated after the order of commencement of liquidation and, that too, without the leave of the NCLT.
In view of the foregoing, the Board held that the adjudication proceedings initiated against ABG Shipyard Limited, vide order dated 8-8-2019, and show cause notice dated 18-10-2019 are infructuous and, therefore, cannot be proceeded with. [ABG Shipyard Ltd., In re, 2019 SCC OnLine SEBI 248, decided on 11-11-2019]
