Videocon International Ltd. Vs Securities & Exchange Board of India (Supreme Court of India)
The Supreme Court considered whether the amendment to Section 15Z of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992, substituting the High Court with the Supreme Court as the forum for second appeals and limiting such appeals to questions of law, applied to appeals arising from Securities Appellate Tribunal orders passed before 29.10.2002. The amendment was introduced through the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Amendment) Act, 2002.
The High Court had held that appeals filed before the amendment came into force remained maintainable before it, whereas appeals filed after the amendment were not maintainable before the High Court. The appellant contended that the amendment merely changed the appellate forum, being procedural in nature, and therefore operated retrospectively, requiring all appeals to be pursued before the Supreme Court. The respondent relied on judicial precedents to contend that the right of appeal is a substantive right and that pending proceedings before the earlier forum continue unless a contrary intention is expressly or impliedly provided.
The Supreme Court examined the unamended and amended Section 15Z, Section 15Y of the SEBI Act, Section 6 of the General Clauses Act, 1897, and the authorities cited by both parties. It observed that where an appellate remedy had already been availed before the amendment, the right became vested and continued before the original forum. The Court held that appeals filed before the High Court prior to 29.10.2002 remained maintainable and that the amendment did not affect such pending proceedings.
