SEBI Calls Jane Streets Request for Investigation Records a Delaying Ploy at SAT Hearing — October 6, 2026

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has pushed back strongly against Jane Street Group LLC at the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT), describing the Wall Street trading firm's demand for additional internal probe documents as a "dilatory" tactic designed to delay proceedings.

Representing SEBI before the appellate tribunal, senior advocate Gaurav Joshi opened arguments citing a traditional Hindi proverb roughly translating to "the thief reprimanding the police" (ulta chor kotwal ko dante), contending that the trading giant was attempting to put the regulator in the dock instead of explaining its trading strategies and addressing the findings of SEBI's interim order.

Dispute Over Probe Records and Due Process

The legal clash follows a petition by Jane Street seeking access to unredacted trade counterparty logs, inter-departmental communications, and details surrounding the origins of SEBI's investigation, including a complaint from a UAE-based hedge fund that had triggered a fresh interdepartmental review in December 2024.

Jane Street, represented by senior counsel Darius Khambata, contended that withholding these records infringes on natural justice and vitiates proceedings. Khambata highlighted that earlier surveillance inquiries carried out in 2024 by both the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and SEBI’s Integrated Surveillance Department (ISD) had cleared the firm of wrongdoing over overlapping timeframes. The firm argued that access to complete trade logs is vital to demonstrate that constituent stock movements occurred independently of its orders.

In response, SEBI's counsel maintained:

• Regulators are legally required to furnish only the specific documents and materials relied upon to issue the regulatory order.
• Supplying confidential internal deliberations or widening disclosure at this stage could prejudice the broader, ongoing investigation.
• Jane Street has sought to question regulatory conduct rather than filing its formal reply to the substantive charges.

High Stakes for Indian Derivatives Markets

The case serves as a benchmark test of SEBI's enforcement reach over sophisticated high-frequency trading (HFT) and algorithmic desks operating in India's massive derivatives market.

On July 3, 2025, SEBI passed an ex-parte interim order barring Jane Street from accessing Indian securities markets and directing the impounding of ₹4,843 crore ($503 million) in alleged unlawful profits. The regulator alleged that the firm manipulated prices of heavyweights within the NSE Nifty Bank Index across cash and futures segments to inflate the underlying gauge, while simultaneously taking large profitable short positions in index options.

While Jane Street has deposited the ₹4,843 crore into an escrow account to comply with the directive, it has not resumed trading in domestic markets and maintains that its execution strategies did not distort benchmark pricing. The tribunal hearings are scheduled to continue as SAT weighs whether the market regulator must disclose internal surveillance material before hearing the merits of the ban.

Tags: SEBI Jane Street Group Securities Appellate Tribunal Nifty Bank National Stock Exchange