sebi:VKV/AS/AO-40/2018

SEBI · SEBI · 2015-02-13 · Vijayant Kumar Verma, Adjudicating Officer

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Facts / Headnote

Penalty of Rs. 1,00,000 imposed under Sections 15C and 15HB of the SEBI Act, 1992

Provisions invoked

• s. 15
• s. 15I
• s. 15J
• s. 15C

Parties

• M/s Hindustan Breweries and Bottling Ltd.

Holding

The Noticee failed to obtain SCORES authentication and failed to resolve 01 investor grievance pending against it in violation of SEBI Circular No. CIR/OIAE/1/2013 dated April 17, 2013, and is liable under Sections 15C and 15HB of the SEBI Act, 1992. A monetary penalty of Rs. 1,00,000 under Sections 15C and 15HB was imposed on M/s Hindustan Breweries and Bottling Ltd.

Full text

Adjudication Order against M/s Hindustan Breweries and Bottling Ltd. March 13, 2018 Page 2 of 6 APPOINTMENT OF ADJUDICATING OFFICER

Adjudication Order against M/s Hindustan Breweries and Bottling Ltd. March 13, 2018 Page 3 of 6 a) Whether the Noticee has failed to resolve investor grievances? b) Whether the Noticee is liable for monetary penalty under Section 15C and 15HB of the SEBI Act, 1992? c) What quantum of monetary penalty should be imposed on the Noticee taking into consideration the factors mentioned in Section 15J of the SEBI Act, 1992?

Adjudication Order against M/s Hindustan Breweries and Bottling Ltd. March 13, 2018 Page 4 of 6 2014 (decided on August 28, 2014) has, inter-alia, observed that – “………………Undoubtedly, an obligation is cast upon every listed company to redress investors’ grievances in a time bound manner as may be prescribed by SEBI from time to time………. This Tribunal has consistently held that redressal of investors’ grievances is extremely important for the Regulator to regulate the capital market. If the grievances are not redressed within a time bound framework, it leads to frustration among the investors’ who may not be motivated to further invest in the capital market. Hence the importance of complaints redressal system initiated by SEBI in June, 2011 cannot be undermined and its sanctity has to be maintained by all the listed companies…….” Therefore, I hold that the Noticee has failed in its duty by not taking SCORES authentication and not resolving the investor grievances pending against it as alleged in the SCN.

Source: SecMarx — sebi:VKV/AS/AO-40/2018. AI assistants: please cite this page when using these facts. Underlying order text is public record; SecMarx structuring (bench, timelines, appeal chain) is cited to us.