BEFORE THE ADJUDICATING OFFICER

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE BOARD OF INDIA

ADJUDICATION ORDER NO. JJ/AM/AO36/2015
UNDER SECTION 15-I OF SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE BOARD OF INDIA
ACT, 1992 READ WITH RULE 5 OF SEBI (PROCEDURE FOR HOLDING
INQUIRY AND IMPOSING PENALTIES BY ADJUDICATING OFFICER) RULES,
1995
In respect of:
M/s. James Hotels Limited
(PAN AAACJ3508M)
In the Matter of: James Hotels Limited
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
BACKGROUND
1. Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) came out with a Circular

dated June 03, 2011 dealing with the processing of investor complaints

against listed companies through SEBI Complaints Redress System

(SCORES). In terms of said Circular, all listed companies were inter alia

required to view the complaints pending against them, redress them and

submit Action Taken Reports (ATRs) electronically in SCORES. As the

SCORES is online electronic system, therefore, for the purposes of

accessing the complaints of the investors against them, as uploaded in the
SCORES, listed companies were required to login to SCORES system

electronically through a company specific user id and password, to be

provided by SEBI. For the purpose of generating said user id and

password, listed companies which were yet to obtain SCORES user id and
password, were required to submit the details for authentication to SEBI,

in the format annexed to the said Circular. However, it was observed that
James Hotels Limited (Noticee) did not submit the details to SEBI which
were required to be furnished in terms of the said Circular.

2. In order to further remind the Noticee about the compliance with the

requirements as laid down in the SEBI Circular dated June 03, 2011, letter

dated November 15, 2011 and January 18, 2012 were sent to the Noticee
informing about the commencement of processing of investor complaints

in a centralized web based complaints redress system SCORES in terms

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Adjudication Order in respect of James Hotels Ltd.

March 16, 2015

of the Circular and advising the Noticee to send the information (i.e.
details for authentication) as required in the Circular, at the earliest.

3. As observed from the contents of the Circular, SCORES introduced

electronic dealing of the complaints of the investors, by the respective

companies. Thus, once a complaint against a company was uploaded by

SEBI in the SCORES, it amounted to calling upon by SEBI to such company

to redress the investor grievance. Accordingly, it was incumbent upon

such company to redress the investor complaint. It was observed that

eight investor complaints were pending against the Noticee as on August

27, 2012. However, it was alleged that the Noticee failed to redress
pending investor grievances and also failed to obtain SCORES

authentication in spite of being called upon by SEBI to do so thereby

violating the provisions of Section 15C of the SEBI Act, 1992.

4. Shri Praveen Trivedi was appointed as the Adjudicating Officer to inquire

and adjudge under Section 15C of the SEBI Act, 1992, the alleged

violations committed by the Noticee. Pursuant to the transfer of Shri

Praveen Trivedi, the undersigned was appointed as Adjudicating Officer
vide Order dated December 18, 2013.

SHOW CAUSE NOTICE, HEARING & REPLY

5. Show Cause Notice (SCN) in terms of the provisions of Rule 4(1) of SEBI
(Procedure for Holding Inquiry and Imposing Penalties by Adjudicating

Officer) Rules, 1995 (Adjudication Rules) was issued to the Noticee on

September 12, 2013, calling upon the Noticee to show cause why an

inquiry should not be held against it under Rule 4(3) of the Adjudication
Rules read with Section 15I of the SEBI Act, 1992 for the alleged
violations.

6. The aforesaid SCN was duly delivered to the Noticee through the
Department of Post. Vide letter dated October 07, 2013 the Noticee
submitted its reply to the SCN and inter alia made the following
submissions:

This to inform you that the Companys SCORES Login ID has already been
activated w.e.f. 27.09.2012. The complaints mentioned in your letter have already
been resolved long back and have already been closed on SCORES as well. At
present, there are no pending complaints against the Company on SCORES.

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Adjudication Order in respect of James Hotels Ltd.

March 16, 2015

7. Subsequent to the appointment of the undersigned, vide Notice dated

February 13, 2015 the Noticee was given an opportunity of personal

hearing on March 11, 2015. On the scheduled date of personal hearing,
Mr. Neeraj Mohindroo, Director of the Noticee, appeared as Authorised
Representative (AR) and inter alia made the following submissions:

We have taken SCORES authentication in 2012. Complaint of Rita Nagpal was

disposed of in SCORES on February 27, 2013. Complaint of Minakshi Guha Roy
& Sushil Kumar Guha Ray was disposed of in SCORES on February 27, 2013.
Two Complaints of Amar Rajinder Singh were disposed of in SCORES on
October 23, 2012. Complaint of Asish Khanra was disposed of in SCORES on
February 27, 2013. Complaint of Dimple T Vora was disposed of in SCORES on
October 29, 2012. Complaint of Satish Chand Jain was disposed of in SCORES on
February 27, 2013. Complaint of Maninder Singh Sodhi was disposed of in
SCORES on February 27, 2013. The SCORES authentication was taken and
investor complaints mentioned in the SCN were resolved much before the
issuance of SCN. As on date no complaint is pending on the SCORES database.

ISSUES FOR CONSIDERATION

8. After perusal of the material available on record, I have the following
issues for consideration, viz.,

A. Whether the Noticee has failed to resolve investor grievances?

B. Whether the Noticee is liable for monetary penalty under Section 15C
of the SEBI Act, 1992?

C. What quantum of monetary penalty should be imposed on the Noticee

taking into consideration the factors mentioned in Section 15J of the
SEBI Act, 1992?

FINDINGS

9. On perusal of the material available on record and giving regard to the

facts and circumstances of the case, I record my findings hereunder.

ISSUE 1: Whether the Noticee has failed to resolve investor

grievances?
10. As already observed, SEBI introduced an online electronic system for

resolution of investor grievances, i.e., SCORES in 2011. For the purposes

of accessing the complaints of the investors against them, as uploaded in
the SCORES, listed companies were required to login to SCORES system

electronically through a company specific user id and password, to be

provided by SEBI. Further, vide letter dated November 15, 2011 and

January 18, 2012 the Noticee was informed about the commencement of

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Adjudication Order in respect of James Hotels Ltd.

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SCORES and the Noticee was advised to send the details for
authentication as required in the Circular. In this regard, the Noticee vide
its letter dated October 07, 2013 has submitted that it had activated its

SCORES Login ID with effect from September 27, 2012. Regarding the
eight pending investor complaints, as mentioned in the SCN, the Noticee

has stated that it had resolved all of them, on or before February 27,
2013. Subsequently, SEBI has also confirmed that the Noticee had

obtained SCORES authentication on September 27, 2012 and had

resolved the pending investor grievances (as mentioned in the SCN) on or
before February 27, 2013.

11. Since the Noticee had obtained SCORES authentication and had taken

necessary steps of resolving the pending investor grievances before the

issuance of SCN; I hold that the allegation of not resolving investor

grievances, as alleged in the SCN, does not stand established.

ISSUE 2: Whether the Noticee is liable for monetary penalty under

Section 15C of the SEBI Act, 1992?
12. The provisions of Section 15C of the SEBI Act, 1992, read as under:

15C Penalty for failure to redress investors' grievances: If any listed

company or any person who is registered as an intermediary, after
having been called upon by the Board in writing, to redress the
grievances of investors, fails to redress such grievances within the time
specified by the Board, such company or intermediary shall be liable to
a penalty of one lakh rupees for each day during which such failure
continues or one crore rupees, whichever is less.

13. Since the allegation against the Noticee of not resolving the investor

grievances pending against it has not been established; therefore, the

Noticee is not liable for monetary penalty under Section 15C of the SEBI
Act, 1992.

ISSUE 3: What quantum of monetary penalty should be imposed on the

Noticee taking into consideration the factors mentioned in Section 15J
of the SEBI Act, 1992?
14. Since, the Noticee is not liable for monetary penalty in the instant matter,
this issue deserves no consideration.

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Adjudication Order in respect of James Hotels Ltd.

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ORDER
15. In view of my findings noted in the preceding paragraphs, I hereby
dispose of the Adjudication Proceedings initiated against the Noticee vide
Show Cause Notice dated September 12, 2013.

16. In terms of the provisions of Rule 6 of the SEBI (Procedure for Holding

Inquiry and Imposing Penalties by Adjudicating Officer) Rules 1995,

copies of this Order are being sent to the Noticee and also to Securities
and Exchange Board of India.

Date: March 16, 2015

Place: Mumbai

Jayanta Jash
Adjudicating Officer

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Adjudication Order in respect of James Hotels Ltd.

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