9911796707
TMI Blog2024 (9) TMI 1499X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 3/SEBI, Mr.Mukul Rohtagi, Sr. Adv. (through VC), Mr.Rajiv Nayar, Sr. Adv. with Mr.Raunak Dhillon, Ms.Madhavi Khanna, Ms.Niharika Shukla, Advocates for R-5/Axis Bank Ltd., Mr.Nikhil Rohtagi, Mr.Shashank Khurana, Advocates for R-6 Mr.Rahul Kumar, Advocate for R- 7/Axis Capital, Mr.Ramesh Babu MR, Ms.Monisha Singh, Ms.Nisha Sharma, Ms.Jagriti Bharti, Mr.Rohan Srivastava, Ms.Tanya Chowdhary, Advocates for RBI, Mr.Sajan Poovayya, Sr. Adv. with Ms.Vatsala Rai, Advocate for R-8 Ms. A Roy Chowdhury, Mr.Saurabh Batra, Advocates for R-9 JUDGMENT MANMOHAN, ACJ : (ORAL) 1. The petitioner has approached this Court in public interest under Article 226 of the Constitution of India seeking inter alia issuance of writ of Mandamus to form a committee cons ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of Axis entities increasing to 19.02% as proposed in letters issued to stock exchanges. He states that Axis Bank sold its stake of 0.998% shares of Max Life in March 2021 to Max Financial and Mitsui Sumitomo International (here in after referred to as 'Sumitomo') for INR 166/- per share and subsequently, in March-April 2021 itself, Axis Bank and its group entities acquired 12.002% shares from Max Financial at price range of INR 31.51 - INR 32.12 per share. He states that Axis Bank has gained substantially while selling shares as the selling price has been exponentially more than the purchasing price which is contrary to the directions issued by the IRDAI in its letter dated 28th January, 2021. 3. He states that promoters of the insurer i. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s and have no direct/personal interest in the matter, they are unlikely to approach this Court on this issue. In any event, he submits that this Court is constitutionally entitled to intervene in situations such as the above, in exercise of its extraordinary jurisdiction. 6. At this stage, learned senior counsel for the Petitioner also refers to an additional affidavit dated 13th March, 2024 filed by the Petitioner where in it is stated that Chairperson of Securities and Exchange Board of India (here in after referred to as 'SEBI') was an additional director and director in Max Healthcare Institute Limited from 04th February, 2015 to 03rd April, 2017 respectively. He states that it is because of this fact that SEBI has not investigated the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ng the fact that Axis Bank Limited and its subsidiaries/group are involved in the transactions and allegations primarily related to conduct of a Bank. The copy of the letter dated 17.11.2023 by SEBI to RBI is annexed herewith as Annexure R1. 6. I say that pursuant to an Order passed by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India ('IRDAI') dated 13.10.2022 (Annexure P-3), in respect of transactions by Axis Bank Ltd. in the shares of Max Life Insurance Company Ltd. ('MLIC'), and media articles SEBI had initiated preliminary examination in the said matter. 7. I say that at the time of receipt of the letter dated October 19, 2023 from the Petitioner, there was already an ongoing examination by SEBI into the transaction betwe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... This Court is of the view that where a field is regulated and where an appropriate regulator has either already taken note of and addressed the transaction or is investigating the said transaction, the Court in writ jurisdiction should not interfere. In such a situation, the regulator must be allowed to do its job. 12. Further, the writ of Mandamus being a public law remedy may be issued against a private body discharging public functions, however, it cannot be used for enforcement of purely private contracts between parties. 13. The tendency to examine commercial transactions from the perspective of reasonableness in Article 226 jurisdiction is to be eschewed as it would make every valuation, sale, purchase of shares or property or every ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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