#Penalty Determination

The Supreme Court reinstated SEBI's penalty on Tara Jewels promoters, ruling that merely possessing unpublished price-sensitive information and trading on it satisfies insider-trading liability, irrespective of any profit or the intended use of the proceeds. This establishes that motive or purpose of proceeds is irrelevant for penalty under the SEBI Act, affecting all present and future insider-trading cases.

CESTAT Chennai rules that only the penalty amount-not confiscated goods or duty-determines appeal maintainability under CBIC Instruction 390/Misc/30/2023-JC. The Revenue’s appeal was dismissed as the Rs. 30 lakh penalty fell below the Rs. 50 lakh threshold, setting a precedent for future customs litigation strategy.