During the hearing, counsel for the funds sought permission to withdraw the existing petitions and refile them with certain amendments. The tribunal accordingly disposed of the appeals as withdrawn
The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) on Monday allowed five offshore funds to withdraw their appeals challenging the Securities and Exchange Board of India's (SEBI) adjudication process, with liberty to file fresh petitions incorporating amendments.The appeals were filed by LTS Investment Fund Ltd, Cresta Fund Ltd, Asia Investment Corporation (Mauritius) Ltd, APMS Investment Fund Ltd and Albula Investment Fund Ltd, which had challenged the manner in which SEBI initiated adjudication proceedings against them.During the hearing, counsel for the funds sought permission to withdraw the existing petitions and refile them with certain amendments. The tribunal accordingly disposed of the appeals as withdrawn.Procedural challengeThe funds had earlier argued that SEBI's adjudicating officer failed to comply with Rule 4(3) of the SEBI (Procedure for Holding Inquiry and Imposing Penalties by Adjudicating Officer) Rules. They said that after receiving replies to the show-cause notices, the adjudicating officer was required to form and communicate a reasoned opinion on whether proceedings should continue before calling them for a personal hearing.The five offshore funds were among entities named in Hindenburg Research's January 2023 report on the Adani Group. While SEBI in September 2025 closed proceedings against Adani group companies, chairman Gautam Adani and related entities after finding no violations of securities regulations, adjudication proceedings involving certain offshore funds have continued separately.Published on August 3, 2026
