The legal battle between the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) has reached in Supreme Court.

SEBI has sought Supreme Court opinion over SAT power to impose penalty on the market regulator. The Supreme Court is likely to here petition filed by SEBI in next week.

SABI has challenged the legality of penalty imposition. The controversy started when SAT ordered to impose Rs1 cror penalty on international investment banker Goldman Sachs. Goldman Sachs could not provide information of offshore derivatives instruments (ODIs) to overseas corporate body (OCB) in a prescribed format. Goldman Sachs is a sub-account registered with Sebi.

Goldman Sachs International is affiliated with Goldman Sachs Investment (Mauritius). It had issued a participatory note (PN) to Magnus Capital Corporation in December 2003. SEBI has passed an order in September 2006 to impose fine of Rs1 cror on Goldman Sachs International.