Tribunal adjourns RIL-Sebi case till January 24

The Securities Appellate Tribunal on Friday adjourned the hearing on Reliance Industries (RIL) appeal against market watchdog the Securities and Exchange Board of India Sebi ) till January 24, after it sought more time to study the petition in a case related to its rejection of a settlement plea by the corporate major.RIL had filed a petition in the tribunal challenging the denial of inspections of documents by Sebi, after the market regulator had issued a show cause order. The country's largest privately-held company also argued that Sebi is rejecting the consent mechanism route after agreeing to it.SAT presiding member PK Malhotra asked whether Sebi's refusal to settle the case through consent is maintainable in the tribunal. SAT says the consent order concept is without prejudice to the legal proceedings.Sebi's lawyer Shiraz Rustomjee said the regulator received the petition late on Thursday evening and sought time to study it. He also challenged the maintainability of RIL's petition, saying it is a non-starter and that under the consent procedure, appeals are not contemplated and hence, SAT should decide whether to admit the petition at all. Senior counsel Janak Dwarkadas , representing RIL, said it had to appeal since it feels Sebi has acted in a discriminatory manner in this case.