The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the country's capital markets regulator SEBI to consider afresh a plea by multi-commodity MCX Stock Exchange Ltd (MCX-SX) to launch an equity trading platform like BSE or NSE.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), which had earlier rejected the MCX-SX's plea, was asked by a bench of justices Aftab Alam and CK Prasad to reconsider it within three months.
The court's order came on a petition by SEBI, challenging a Bombay High Court verdict, setting aside its order rejecting the MCX-SX application to operate as a stock exchange. MCX-SX, currently, trades only currency derivatives.
The bench, however, asked SEBI not to be influenced by various observations made by the Bombay High Court in its judgement, setting aside the SEBI's order.
The apex court passed the order on the basis of a consensus, reached between SEBI and MCX-SX vis-a-vis amendment to the MIMPS (manner of increasing and maintaining public shareholding in recognised stock exchanges) rules which the corporate entity also agreed to adhere to.
Attorney General G E Vahanvati appeared for SEBI, while senior counsel Harish Salve represented MCX-SX.
The bench passed its order after Vahanvati told it that SEBI was willing to amend the MIMPS rules within three months, while Salve assured it that MCX-SX was willing to abide by the proposed amended rules.
The Bombay High Court, earlier, had set aside the SEBI order, rejecting permission to MCX-SX to start trading in equities and equity derivatives, asking the regulator to reconsider afresh the bourse's application within a month.
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