The Supreme Court of India has refused to entertain a plea challenging the reappointment of U K Sinha as Chairman of the market regulator, Security and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) till 2017.
A thee judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Tirath Singh Thakur said that there was “no bar” on the re-appointment.
“We are not inclined to hear this,” the Apex Bench said when senior advocate Indira Jaisingh, sought issuance of a notice on the plea seeking quashing of appointment of Sinha as SEBI head.
Jaisingh referred to the alleged flouting of rules or norms by the Centre in appointing Sinha and said that he has been reappointed despite the fact that the selection committee did not include his name in the list of the shortlisted candidates for the post.
At this the Apex Bench said that “We have already directed the CBI to look into all the aspects, including the role of regulators (SEBI, RBI) in the scam. The bench included Justices R Banumathi and U U Lalit said.
The bench was hearing a plea filed by a former Indian Revenue Service officer Udai Babu Khalwadekar.
The tenure of Sinha, who had taken over as SEBI chief in 2011, was extended by the government with his reappointment in 2014 for a period of three years — till March 1, 2017.