Mahua Moitra AIF, FPI Plea: Supreme Court Refuses to Order SEBI Disclosure

The Supreme Court on Thursday, 29 October, dismissed a public interest petition by Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra that asked it to direct SEBI to make public the ultimate beneficial owners and portfolio holdings of Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) and Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs). A bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna, R. Mahadevan and D.K. Upadhyaya said no law or regulation currently requires such disclosure, so the court could not issue a mandamus, according to reports of the hearing.

No New Disclosure Rule for Investors

Nothing changes for AIF or FPI investors. The names behind these funds continue to be shared with SEBI when the regulator asks, not published for the public. Retail investors who wanted to see who sits behind a large foreign fund holding in a listed company will not get that view from this order.

The bench asked whether granting the plea would amount to the court making policy. “Investors are not naive,” it said, according to Asianet Newsable’s account, adding that they rely on advisers and their own research. Counsel Prashant Bhushan argued that citizens should be able to see who is behind large market investments.

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Reply Filed Last September, Hearings Since April 2025

Ms Moitra first came to the court in 2025. In April that year the Supreme Court asked her to take the demand to SEBI. The case returned in October 2025, when the court allowed her to amend the petition. SEBI’s reply, dated 19 September 2025, said no legal framework requires the information to be made public, and that it is provided to the regulator where detailed disclosures are sought. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta opposed the plea for the Centre and SEBI.

The bench also questioned whether Ms Moitra was seeking public relief or private relief, after her counsel said she was also an investor, and suggested the issue could be raised in Parliament.

Route Left Is Parliament or SEBI Itself

With the petition disposed of, any disclosure rule would now have to come from SEBI’s own board or from legislation. The order sets no date for either. For more court rulings on regulators, see the NCLT staff appointments judgment and the Daily Updates section.

Source: Based on reporting by Daily Pioneer and Asianet Newsable. Earlier hearing: LiveLaw.

Image: Telegraph India / PTI.