APPEAL TO SECURITIES APPELLATE TRIBUNAL UNDER INSURANCE ACT

[Mr. M. GOVINDARAJAN]

Appeal

Section 110 of the Insurance Act provides appeal for the orders passed against the Authority and Adjudicating Authority before the Securities Appellate Tribunal (from 20.03.2015) as detailed below-

• an order under Section 3 cancelling the registration of an insurer;
• an order under Section 5 directing the insurer to change his name;
• an order under Section 42 cancelling the licence issued to an agent;
• an order under Section 75 refusing to register an amendment of rules;
• an order under Section 87 or Section 87A;
• an order made in the course of the winding up or insolvency of an insurer or a provident society.

Before 20.03.2015 the Court having jurisdiction for the above purposes shall be the principal Court of civil jurisdiction within whose local limits the principal place of business of the insurer concerned is situate.

Limitation

The appeal shall be filed before the Tribunal within forty five days from the date on which a copy of the order made by the Authority is received by him.  The Securities Appellate Tribunal may entertain an appeal after the expiry of the said period of forty-five days if it is satisfied that there was sufficient cause for not filing it within that period.

Fees

The fee payable for filing appeal in respect of appeal against an order passed by the Authority by way of adjudication is as under-

• The amount of penalty imposed is less than ₹ 1 lakh – ₹ 5,000/-
• The amount of penalty imposed is more than ₹ 1 lakh but below ₹ 50 lakh – ₹ 10,000/-
• The amount of penalty imposed is more than ₹ 50 lakh – ₹ 10,000/- + ₹ 5000 for every additional one lakh of penalty or fraction thereof subject to a maximum of ₹ 1,50,000/-.

In respect of an appeal against any other order made by the Authority under the Act, or the rules or regulations made there under, or under the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act 1999, shall be rupees five thousand only.

Procedure for filing appeal

The following is the procedure of filing appeal before the Tribunal-

• A memorandum of appeal shall be in Form 1;
• The appeal may be filed in person before the registry of the Appellate Tribunal or sent by registered post addressed to the Registrar.
• A memorandum of appeal sent by post shall be deemed to have been presented in the registry on the day it was received in the registry.
• Every appeal, application, reply, representation or any document filed before the Appellate Tribunal shall be typewritten, cyclostyled or printed neatly and legibly on one side of good quality paper of foolscap size in double space and separate sheets shall be stitched together and every page shall be consecutively numbered and filed.
• The appeal shall be presented in five sets in a paper book along with an empty file size envelope bearing full address of the respondent and in case the respondents are more than one, then sufficient number of extra paper books together with empty file size envelope bearing full addresses of each respondent shall be furnished by the appellant.
• Every memorandum of appeal filed in five sets shall be accompanied with copies of the order, one of which shall be certified copy, against which the appeal is filed.
• Where a party is represented by authorized representative, a copy of the authorization to act as the authorized representative and the written consent thereto by such authorized representative shall be appended to the appeal.
• Every memorandum of appeal filed shall set forth concisely under distinct heads, the grounds of such appeal without any argument or narrative, and such ground shall be numbered consecutively.
• It shall not be necessary to present separate memorandum of appeal to seek interim order or direction if in the memorandum of appeal, the same is prayed for.
• A memorandum of appeal shall not seek relief or reliefs therein against more than one order unless the reliefs prayed for are consequential.
• Every appeal shall be verified by the party as provided in Form-2;
• The Registrar shall endorse on every appeal the date on which it is presented under rule 3 or deemed to have been presented under that rule and shall sign endorsement.
• If, on scrutiny, the appeal is found to be in order, it shall be duly registered and given a serial number.
• If an appeal on scrutiny is found to be defective and the defect noticed is formal in nature, the Registrar may allow the appellant to rectify the same in his presence and if the said defect is not formal in nature, the Registrar may allow the appellant such time to rectify the defect as he may deem fit and where such appeal has been sent by post and found to be defective, the Registrar may communicate the defects to the appellant and allow the appellant such time to rectify the defect as he may deem fit.
• If the appellant fails to rectify the defect within the time allowed, the Registrar may, by order, and for reasons to be recorded in writing, decline to register such memorandum of appeal and communicate the order to the appellant within seven days thereof.
• An appeal against the order of the Registrar shall be made within fifteen days of receiving of such order to the Presiding Officer concerned in his chamber, whose decision thereon shall be final.
• A copy of the memorandum of appeal and paper book shall be served by the Registrar on the respondent as soon as they are registered in the registry, by hand delivery, or by Registered Post or Speed Post.
• The respondent may file five complete sets containing the reply to the appeal along with documents in a paper book form with the registry within one month of the date of service of the notice on him of the filing of the memorandum of appeal.
• Every reply, application or written representation filed before the Appellate Tribunal shall be verified by the party as provided in Form-2.
• A copy of every application, reply, document or written material filed by the respondent before the Appellate Tribunal shall be forthwith served on the appellant, by the respondent.
• The Appellate Tribunal may, in its discretion, on application by the respondent allow the filing of reply after the expiry of the period referred to therein.
• The Appellate Tribunal shall notify the parties the date of hearing of the appeal in such manner as the Presiding Officer may by general or special order direct.
• On the day fixed or on any other day to which the hearing may be adjourned, the appellant shall be heard in support of the appeal and the Appellate Tribunal shall, then, if necessary, hear the respondent Authority or its authorized representative against the appeal, and in such case the appellant shall be entitled to reply and during the course of the hearing of appeal, the written arguments could be supplemented by time-bound oral arguments.
• Every authorized representative, other than a relative or regular employee of the party shall appear before the Appellate Tribunal in his professional dress if any, and if there is no such dress, a male, in a suit or buttoned-up coat over a pant or national dress that is a long buttoned up coat on dhoti or churidar pyjama or in any other sober dress, and a female, in a coat.All other persons appearing before the Appellate Tribunal shall be properly dressed in sober attire.
• A fee of rupees twenty, for every hour or part thereof of inspection subject to a minimum of rupees one hundred shall be charged for inspecting the records of a pending appeal by a party thereto.
• A fee of rupees five for a folio or part thereof not involving typing and a fee of rupees ten for a folio or part thereof involving typing of statement and figures shall be charged for providing copies of the records of an appeal, to a party thereto.
• In case the appellant does not appear in person or through an authorized representative when the appeal is called for hearing, the Appellate Tribunal may dispose of the appeal on merits.
• Where an appeal has been disposed of as provided above and if the appellant appears afterwards and satisfies the Appellate Tribunal that there was sufficient cause for his non-appearance when the appeal was called for hearing, the Securities Appellate Tribunal may, by order, set aside the ex-parte order and restore the appeal.
• The Securities Appellate Tribunal may, after giving parties to the appeal an opportunity of being heard, pass such orders thereon as it thinks fit, conforming, modifying or setting aside the order appealed against.
• If a Bench of the Securities Appellate Tribunal consisting of two members differ in opinion on any point, they shall state the point or points on which they differ, and make a reference to the Presiding Officer of the Securities Appellate Tribunal who shall either hear the point or points himself or refer the case for hearing only on such point or points by one or more of the other members of the Securities Appellate Tribunal and such point or points shall be decided according to the opinion of the majority of the members of the Securities Appellate Tribunal who have heard the case, including those who first heard it.
• The appeal filed before the Securities Appellate Tribunal shall be dealt with by it as expeditiously as possible and endeavor shall be made by it to dispose of the appeal finally within six months from the date of receipt of appeal.
• Every order of the Appellate Tribunal shall be signed and dated by the Presiding Officer and other Members constituting the Bench.
• The Appellate Tribunal shall have powers to pass interim orders or injunctions, subject to reasons to be recorded in writing, which it considers necessary in the interest of justice.
• The order shall be pronounced in the sitting of the Appellate Tribunal by the Presiding Officer or by the Member if so authorized.
• The orders of the Appellate Tribunal, as are deemed fit for publication in any authoritative report or the press may be released for such publication on such terms and conditions as the Presiding Officer may lay down.
• A certified copy of every order passed by the Appellate Tribunal shall be communicated to the Authority and to the parties.
• The Appellate Tribunal may make such orders or give such directions as may be necessary or expedient to give effect to its orders or to prevent abuse of its process or to secure the ends of justice.

Authorized representative

The appellant may either appear in person or authorize one or more chartered accountants in practice or company secretaries in practice or cost accountants in practice or legal practitioners or any of its officers to present his or its case before the Securities Appellate Tribunal.

Powers of Appellate Tribunal

The Securities Appellate Tribunal shall not be bound by the procedure laid down by the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 but shall be guided by the principles of natural justice and, subject to the other provisions of this Act, and of any rules, the Securities Appellate Tribunal shall have powers to regulate their own procedure including the places at which they shall have their sittings.

The Securities Appellate Tribunal shall have, for the purposes of discharging their functions under this Act, the same powers as are vested in a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), while trying a suit, in respect of the following matters-

• summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person and examining him on oath;
• requiring the discovery and production of documents;
• receiving evidence on affidavits;
• issuing commissions for the examination of witnesses or documents;
• reviewing its decisions;
• dismissing an application for default or deciding it ex parte ;
• aside any order of dismissal of any application for default or any order passed by it ex-parte;
• any other matter which may be prescribed.

Civil courts have no jurisdiction

No civil court shall have jurisdiction to entertain any suit or proceeding in respect of any matter which an adjudicating officer appointed under this Act or a Securities Appellate Tribunal constituted under this Act is empowered by or under this Act to determine and no injunction shall be granted by any court or other authority in respect of any action taken or to be taken in pursuance of any power conferred by or under this Act.

Appeal to Supreme Court

Any person aggrieved by any decision or order of the Securities Appellate Tribunal may file an appeal to the Supreme Court within sixty days from the date of communication of the decision or order of the Securities Appellate Tribunal to him on any question of law arising out of such order.   The Supreme Court may, if it is satisfied that the applicant was prevented by sufficient cause from filing the appeal within the said period, allow it to be filed within a further period not exceeding sixty days.