 bill no xi  of  2013 the securities and exchange board  of india (amendment) bill, 2013 a billfurther to amend the securities and exchange board of india act, 1992be it enacted by parliament in the sixty-fourth year of the republic of india as  follows:— 1 (1) this act may be called the securities and exchange board of india (amendment)act, 2013short title and commencement(2) it shall be deemed to have come into force on the 21st day of january, 2013amendment of section 15m"(1)  a person shall not be qualified for appointment as the presiding officer of the securities appellate tribunal unless he —(a)  is a sitting or retired judge of the supreme court or a sitting or retired chief justice of a high court; or5(b) is a sitting or retired judge of a high court who has completed not less than seven years of service as a judge in a high court (1a) the presiding officer of the securities appellate tribunal shall be appointed by the central government in consultation with the chief justice of india or his nominee"10repeal and savingord 1 of 20133 (1) the securities and exchange board of india (amendment) ordinance, 2013, is hereby repealed15 of 199215(2) notwithstanding such repeal, anything done or any action taken under the securities and exchange board of india act, 1992, as amended by the said ordinance, shall be deemed to have been done or taken under the corresponding provisions of that act, as amended by this act statement of objects and reasonsthe securities and exchange board of india act, 1992 (sebi act) was enacted to provide for the establishment of the securities and exchange board of india to protect the interests of investors in securities and to promote the development of, and to regulate, the securities market2 the securities appellate tribunal (sat) was established under section 15k of the sebi act to adjudicate upon appeals against the decisions of the securities and exchange board of india section 15m of the said act, relating to qualifications for appointment as the presiding officer of  the  sat, provides that a person shall not be qualified for appointment as the presiding officer of the sat unless he is a sitting or retired judge of the supreme court or a sitting or retired chief justice of a high court3 the post of presiding officer of the sat has been lying vacant since the29th november, 2011 due to non-availability of a suitable candidate  efforts to identify a suitable candidate to take up the assignment under the existing eligibility criteria, have not met with success, and, therefore, the post has been lying vacant the absence of a presiding officer has been hampering the functioning of the tribunal, which is the appellate authority of the security and exchange board of india  the tribunal is important for smooth functioning of the capital markets4 in view of the above difficulties, there was a need to enlarge the field of selection for the post of presiding officer of sat by including sitting or retired judges of a high court with a minimum of seven years of service as a judge of a high court as one of the qualifications for the post of presiding officer of sat5 as there was an urgent need to fill the post of presiding officer of sat and parliament was not in session, it became necessary to amend section 15m of the sebi act by way of promulgation of an ordinance so as to include the sitting or retired judges of a high court with a minimum of seven years of service as a  judge of a high court as one of the qualifications for the post of presiding officer of the sat  accordingly, the securities and exchange board of india (amendment) ordinance, 2013 was promulgated on the 21st january, 20136 the bill seeks to replace the aforesaid ordinancenew delhi;p chidambaramthe 18th february, 2013 annexure extract from the securities and exchange board of india act, 1992 (15 of 1992)15m (1) a  person shall not be qualified for appointment as the presiding officer of a securities appellate tribunal unless he is a sitting or retired judge of the supreme court or a sitting or retired chief justice of a high court:provided that the presiding officer of the securities appellate tribunal shall be appointed by the central government in consultation with the chief justice of india or his nomineequalification for appointment as presiding officer or member of the securities appellate tribunal rajya  sabha————— a bill further to amend the securities and exchange board of india act, 1992—————gmgipmrnd—4936rs(s4)—21022013