JUDGMENT

VIKRAMAJIT SEN, J.

1. These Appeals lay siege to the decision of the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) which modified the order of the Adjudicating Officer under SEBI, reducing the penalty payable by the Respondent, Roofit Industries Ltd., under Section 15A of the Securities And Exchange Board of India Act, 1992 (SEBI Act) from Rs. 1 crore to Rs. 60,000. In the connected matters, the penalty imposed by the Appellant SEBI was reduced from Rs. 75,00,000 to Rs. 15,000 in five cases and Rs. 60,000 in one case. What formulae, if any, has been followed in these reductions is not forthcoming, making the exercise pregnant to the possibility of arbitrariness if not inconsistency or caprice.

2. The Appellant, having noticed allegations of share-price rigging by the Respondent, initiated an investigation into the shareholder pattern of the Respondent and price manipulation thereof. During the investigation, the Appellant issued Summons on 23.7.2002 to the Respondent requiring it to procure and produce certain documents and also for submitting additional information. The Respondent sought time till 20.8.2002 to provide the documents and information sought by the Appellant, and there