The Supreme Court of India set aside an order requiring Reliance Industries Limited to disgorge ₹447 crore [1].
The ruling provides significant financial relief to the conglomerate by overturning findings of market manipulation and fraud in a long-standing legal battle. This decision limits the regulatory reach of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) regarding the 2007 RPL futures-trading case.
The judgment was reached by a bench in a 2-1 majority decision [4]. The court said that the previous order from the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) contained errors and that SEBI's findings of fraud were not supported by the evidence [5, 6].
While the court quashed the disgorgement of ₹447 crore [1], it did not grant total immunity. The bench upheld a penalty of ₹25 crore [2] for regulatory violations.
Additionally, the court ordered a refund for the company. Reliance Industries had previously deposited ₹250 crore with the authorities, and the court said that this amount must be returned [3].
The case centered on trading activities involving Reliance Petroleum Limited (RPL) that occurred in 2007. For years, the legal process moved through SEBI and the SAT before reaching the highest court in India. The final decision on May 29, 2024, effectively ended the disgorgement requirement [5].
“The Supreme Court quashed the SAT order that had directed Reliance Industries to disgorge ₹447 crore.”
This ruling underscores the high evidentiary bar the Supreme Court of India requires to sustain claims of market manipulation and fraud. By overturning the SAT's decision, the court has signaled that regulatory findings by SEBI must be backed by robust evidence to justify massive disgorgement orders, potentially influencing how future securities litigation is handled in India.
