Delhi High Court Dismisses Plea Against Sebi Nod For NSE IPO On Jurisdiction Grounds

The Delhi High Court on February 17 dismissed a petition challenging the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (Sebi) January 30 approval for the National Stock Exchange’s (NSE) initial public offering, holding that it lacked territorial jurisdiction to hear the matter.

A single-judge bench of Justice Jasmeet Singh declined to admit the plea filed by former judicial officer K.C. Aggarwal, stating that both Sebi and NSE are headquartered in Mumbai and that the no-objection certificate (NOC) for the IPO was issued there. The court observed that since the approval was granted in Mumbai, the Delhi High Court could not entertain the petition.

Challenge To Sebi Approval

Aggarwal had sought to restrain Sebi from permitting NSE to proceed with its IPO, alleging violations in the exchange’s handling of corporate action adjustments (CAA) in the derivatives segment. The CAA framework is intended to maintain value neutrality in futures and options contracts when listed companies announce corporate actions such as bonus issues, stock splits, or extraordinary dividends.

According to the petition, NSE adjusted only prices and debited dividend-equivalent amounts from derivative traders’ accounts, instead of adjusting both price and quantity. The petitioner argued that under the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, dividends accrue to shareholders and not to derivative traders.

He also said that his complaints were dismissed without a proper hearing and that his Right to Information requests for information about the amounts that were debited were denied. 
The plea claimed Sebi upheld NSE’s actions without conducting an independent review.

Response From Sebi And NSE

Sebi and NSE opposed the petition, submitting that the petitioner lacked locus standi and had filed multiple proceedings on similar issues before different forums. They also told the court that the IPO process involves the interests of over 850,000 investors.

With the dismissal of the petition on jurisdictional grounds, the challenge before the Delhi High Court has come to an end.

The Delhi High Court threw out a petition that said Sebi's approval of NSE's IPO on January 30 was wrong because both Sebi and NSE are based in Mumbai, and the court didn't have the power to hear the case. NSE first filed its draft red herring prospectus in 2016. It took longer to list because of regulatory scrutiny and governance issues, such as the co-location case. Sebi gave its NOC on January 30, 2026, after looking over the application several times. This let the exchange start the IPO process again, hire intermediaries, and make new listing documents.