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Securities and Exchange Board of India v. Classic Credit Ltd.

Criminal Appeal · 2017 INSC 778Decided 21 Aug 2017
Criminal Appeal No. 67 of 2011
Chief Justice J.S. Khehar · Justice Arun Mishra

Background

SEBI had filed criminal complaints against several private parties for offences under the SEBI Act, 1992, allegedly committed before a 2002 amendment to the Act. The accused argued that since their alleged conduct pre-dated the 2002 amendment, which moved the trial forum from a Metropolitan/Judicial Magistrate to a Court of Session, they could only be tried by a Magistrate under the law as it stood when the offence was allegedly committed, not by the new forum.

Decision Breakdown

The Court held that a change of the forum/court designated to conduct a trial is a procedural matter, not a substantive right vested in the accused, so the 2002 and later 2014 amendments shifting trial forums applied retrospectively to all pending and future SEBI Act trials, irrespective of when the alleged offence occurred or when proceedings were initiated. It accordingly set aside a contrary ruling of the Bombay High Court in the Classic Credit matter and disposed of the entire batch of connected appeals on this basis.

Lesson Learnt

Laws that merely reassign which court hears a case (procedural changes) can validly apply even to conduct that occurred before the law changed, unlike changes to what counts as a crime or how severely it can be punished, which generally cannot be applied retrospectively.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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