Recovery of amounts
Section 28A of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992 deals with recovery of amounts. If a person fails to pay the penalty imposed [under this Act] or fails to comply with any direction of the Board for refund of monies or fails to comply with a direction of disgorgement order issued under section 11B or fails to pay any fees due to the Board, the Recovery Officer may draw up under h The Act came into force on 30 Jan 1992.
1[28A. Recovery of amounts.--(1) If a person fails to pay the penalty imposed 2[under this Act] or fails to comply with any direction of the Board for refund of monies or fails to comply with a direction of disgorgement order issued under section 11B or fails to pay any fees due to the Board, the Recovery Officer may draw up under his signature a statement in the specified form specifying the amount due from the person (such statement being hereafter in this Chapter referred to as certificate) and shall proceed to recover from such person the amount specified in the certificate by one or more of the following modes, namely:--
(a) attachment and sale of the person‘s movable property;
(b) attachment of the person‘s bank accounts;
(c) attachment and sale of the person‘s immovable property;
(d) arrest of the person and his detention in prison;
(e) appointing a receiver for the management of the person's movable and immovable properties,
and for this purpose, the provisions of sections 220 to 227, 228A, 229, 232, the Second and Third Schedules to the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961) and the Income-tax (Certificate Proceedings) Rules, 1962, as in force from time to time, in so far as may be, apply with necessary modifications as if the said provisions and the rules made thereunder were the provisions of this Act and referred to the amount due under this Act instead of to income-tax under the Income-tax Act, 1961.
Explanation 1.-- For the purposes of this sub-section, the person's movable or immovable property or monies held in bank accounts shall include any property or monies held in bank accounts which has been transferred directly or indirectly on or after the date when the amount specified in certificate had become due, by the person to his spouse or minor child or son's wife or son's minor child, otherwise than for adequate consideration, and which is held by, or stands in the name of, any of the persons aforesaid; and so far as the movable or immovable property or monies held in bank accounts so transferred to his minor child or his son's minor child is concerned, it shall, even after the date of attainment of majority by such minor child or son's minor child, as the case may be, continue to be included in the person's movable or immovable property or monies held in bank accounts for recovering any amount due from the person under this Act.
Explanation 2.--Any reference under the provisions of the Second and Third Schedules to the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961) and the Income-tax (Certificate Proceedings) Rules, 1962 to the assessee shall be construed as a reference to the person specified in the certificate.
Explanation 3.--Any reference to appeal in Chapter XVIID and the Second Schedule to the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961), shall be construed as a reference to appeal before the Securities Appellate Tribunal under section 15T of this Act.
3[Explanation 4. --The interest referred to in section 220 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 shall commence from the date the amount became payable by the person.]
(2) The Recovery Officer shall be empowered to seek the assistance of the local district administration while exercising the powers under sub-section (1).
(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, the recovery of amounts by a Recovery Officer under sub-section (1), pursuant to non-compliance with any direction issued by the Board under section 11B, shall have precedence over any other claim against such person.
(4) For the purposes of sub-sections (1), (2) and (3), the expression "Recovery Officer‘‘ means any officer of the Board who may be authorised, by general or special order in writing, to exercise the powers of a Recovery Officer.]
Section 28A, The Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992 (Act 15 of 1992).
Cross-references
Extracted from the operative text of the enactments themselves. Every destination below exists in our corpus.
Related judgements & precedents
These are some judgments that construed this section, and hold precedence value. They hold authority on how to read, interpret and use this section.
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Dushyant N. Dalal & Anr. v. Securities and Exchange Board of India
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
Interest belongs to substantive law. Though s.28A is recovery procedure incorporating IT Act ss.220–227 etc., when it levies interest that levy operates prospectively — chargeable under s.28A r/w IT s.220 from 25.08.2014 (when s.220 was brought into s.28A), not retrospectively from 18.07.2013. Interest Act, 1978 s.4(1) (‘other rule of law’) preserves interest in equity (e.g. public money in Consolidated Fund under SEBI s.15JA). Where a disgorgement/penalty order deliberately omitted future interest and imposed severe alternative sanctions, additional interest cannot be demanded later under s.28A.
On this section: Direct teaching on s.28A Recovery Officer powers and scope of interest recoverable by grafting IT Act s.220 onto SEBI recovery certificates — prospective interest start, equity under Interest Act, and limits where original order omitted future interest.
The holding above is the ratio decidendi as extracted from the judgment by eCourts India, reproduced unaltered — it is a rendering of the court's reasoning, not a substitute for its words. Read the order itself before relying on it.
Made under this section, and citing it
1 instrument states that it was made under this provision — the power to make it comes from here, so a change to any of them changes what this section requires in practice. Newest first.
Questions about Section 28A
What have the courts held on Section 28A of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act?
Dushyant N. Dalal & Anr. v. Securities and Exchange Board of India (04 Oct 2017) is the leading judgment on this section among those set out below: Direct teaching on s.28A Recovery Officer powers and scope of interest recoverable by grafting IT Act s.220 onto SEBI recovery certificates — prospective interest start, equity under Interest Act, and limits where original order omitted future interest.
How do I find court cases under Section 28A of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act?
In judgments and charge sheets this section is written several ways, and each form finds a different set of orders. These search the full text of every order eCourtsIndia holds, best matches first: Sebi Act 28A, section 28A Sebi Act, section 28A of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome. 1 reported judgment on this section is set out on this page, beginning with Dushyant N. Dalal & Anr. v. Securities and Exchange Board of India (04 Oct 2017).
What should I read with Section 28A of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, and has it changed?
Its own text turns on Income-tax Act 220 (When tax payable and when assessee deemed in default), section 11B (Power to issue directions and levy penalty), section 15T (Appeal to the Securities Appellate Tribunal), so none of them can safely be read on its own. 1 other provision in this corpus refers back to it. The rules and notifications made under it are where it actually bites, and there is one: most recently Securities and Exchange Board of India (Appointment of Administrator and Procedure for Refunding to the Investors) Regulations, 2018 (2018).
When did Section 28A of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act come into force?
Section 28A of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, cited as Sebi Act 28A, came into force on 30 Jan 1992, having been enacted on 04 Apr 1992. It is in force as at the date shown on this page.
Other sections of this Act
- 11. Functions of Board1315 words
- 11C. Investigation1145 words
- 12. Registration of stock-brokers, sub-brokers, share transfer agents, etc678 words
- 15U. Procedure and powers of the Securities Appellate Tribunal494 words
- 15D. Penalty for certain defaults in case of mutual funds464 words
- 11AA. Collective investment scheme452 words
Source and method. Compiled from the enactments of Parliament and of the State legislatures as published on India Code, and republished together with commentary and other original matter under section 52(1)(q)(ii) of the Copyright Act, 1957. Structured, cross-referenced and maintained by eCourtsIndia. Text as in force on 15 Oct 2026. This page is not a substitute for legal advice.