Court A Step Away From Naming Ketan Parekh A Proclaimed Offender

A special judge appointed under the SEBI Act ordered a proclamation in a newspaper asking stock broker Ketan Parekh to appear in court for non-payment of penalty and non-compliance with orders of the adjudicating officer.

Parekh failed to pay fines imposed on him by the adjudicating officer, who held him guilty of various offences under the SEBI Act and subordinate regulations including market manipulation. He was convicted in 2014 for stock manipulation in 1999-2000 after he failed to turn up after bailable and non-bailable warrants.

“A proclamation order states that the accused has to be present in court on a particular date and time,” Omprakash Jha, SEBI’s special prosecutor, who is not involved in this case, told BloombergQuint over the phone. “If such a person violates the order, then he is declared as a “proclaimed offender” which leads to a non-bailable warrant against him and “lookout” circulars at airports and exit terminals across India.”

The proclamation allows the court to attach properties, movable and immovable assets of the accused. In January 2016, the court had issued its first proclamation order, but Parekh’s lawyer managed to get a stay. The court said that “by doing so Parekh has not only made false misrepresentations but also abused and misused the process”.

Parekh, director of Panther Fincap and Management Services Ltd., was convicted in one of the cases of stock manipulation in 2014 and was barred from accessing the securities market for 14 years.