MARKANDEYA KATJU, C. J.

( 1 ) THIS Letters Patent Appeal has been filed against the impugned judgment dated 26. 10. 2004 in WP (C) No. 5417/2003.

( 2 ) THE facts in detail have been mentioned in the judgment of the learned single Judge and hence we are not repeating them here again except where required. The short question which arises for consideration in this appeal is whether under the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992 (hereinafter referred to as the act ) a stock broker has to get a certificate of registration from the Securities and Exchange Board of india (for short SEBI ) from each of the stock exchanges where he operates, or whether a single certificate of registration from the SEBI is sufficient.

( 3 ) IN this connection, we reproduce Section 12 (1) of the Act:-

12 (1) No stock broker, sub-broker, share transfer agent, banker to an issue, trustee of trust deed, registrar to an issue, merchant banker, underwriter, portfolio manager, investment adviser and such other intermediary who may be associated with securities market shall buy, sell or deal in securities except under, and in accordance with, the conditions of a certificate of registration obtained from the Board in accordance with the (regulations) made under this Act:

( 4 ) IN our opinion, a bare perusal of Section 12 (1) of the Act makes it clear that only one certificate of registration from the SEBI is required even if a stock broker operates from several stock exchanges in the country. In fact, Section 12 (1) of the Act does not refer to any stock exchange at all. All it states is that a stock broker can do business in buying or selling securities only after getting a certificate of registration from the SEBI in accordance with the regulations made under the Act. The expression a certificate means one certificate because the word a means one. For instance, when we say we have seen a man, it means that we have seen one man, and not two or more men.

( 5 ) MR. Jayant Bhushan, learned Senior Counsel for the appellant invited our attention to the rules and regulations made under the Act.

( 6 ) RULE 3 of the Securities and Exchange Board of india (Stock Brokers and Sub-Brokers) Rules, 1992 states;-

3. No stock broker or sub-broker shall buy, sell, deal in securities, unless he holds a certificate granted by the Board under the Regulations: Provided that such person may continue to buy, sell or deal in securities if he has made an application for such registration till the disposal of such application.

( 7 ) RULE 4 of the aforesaid Rules states;-

4. The Board may grant a certificate to a stock broker subject to the following conditions, namely :- (a)he holds membership of any stock exchange; (b)he shall abide by the rules, regulations and bye-laws of the stock exchange or stock exchanges of which he is a member; (c)in case of any change in the status and constitution, the stock broker shall obtain prior permission of the board to continue to buy, sell or deal in securities in any stock exchange; (d)he shall pay the amount of fees for registration in the manner provided in the regulations; and (e)he shall take adequate steps for redressal of grievances of the investors within one month of the date of the receipt of the complaint and keep the Board informed about the number, nature and other particulars of the complaints received from such investors.

( 8 ) THE above quoted Rules also makes it clear that a single certificate of registration from the SEBI is sufficient and a stock broker is not required to take two or more certificates from SEBI even if he functions as a stock broker in two or more stock exchanges.

( 9 ) NO doubt, a stock broker may also need to get registered in a stock exchange, but in our opinion, registration in a stock exchange is totally different from registration with the SEBI. To be a member in a stock exchange a stock broker may have to comply with the rules and regulations of that stock exchange and the stock exchange may or may n

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