JUDGMENT

Jagdish Singh Khehar, J.

1. The Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992 (hereinafter referred to as, the SEBI Act) was enacted to protect the interests of investors in securities and to promote the development of, and to regulate, the securities market. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (hereinafter referred to as, the Board) was vested with statutory powers to effectively deal with all matters relating to the capital market.

2. The functions of the Board have been depicted in Section 11 of the SEBI Act. Under Section 11 of the SEBI Act, the powers of the Board include, the power to suspend the trading of any security in a recognized stock-exchange; the power to restrain from accessing the securities market and prohibit any person associated with the securities market from buying, selling or dealing in securities; the power to suspend any office-bearer of any stock-exchange or self-regulatory organization from holding such position; the power to impound and retain the proceeds or securities in respect of any transaction which is under investigation; the power to attach after passing of an order on an application made for approval (by the Judicial Magistrate