<div>Real estate giant DLF has sought the Securities and Exchange Board of India's (Sebi) approval to redeem Rs 1,600 crore from its mutual fund investments as it is facing a three-year ban by the market regulator from accessing the capital market.</div><div> </div><div>According to sources, the Delhi-based developer has made the request through an affidavit submitted to the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT), which is hearing DLF's appeal against the ban imposed by the watchdog last month on the company and six of its top officials.</div><div> </div><div>The submission of the affidavit, which seeks to redeem Rs 1,600 crore from the total MF investments that the company has, follows a direction from the tribunal last Thursday.</div><div> </div><div>The SAT, a quasi-judicial body, is expected to pronounce its interim order on the affidavit on Wednesday. The final hearing on the matter will begin on December 10.</div><div> </div><div>At the last hearing on October 30, the SAT had asked DLF to specifically mention the timeframe, the requirements as well as the end use of the fund apart from till what time it needs the interim relief.</div><div> </div><div>The SAT had further asked Sebi to file its reply to the DLF petition by November 30 and directed the petitioner to submit its rejoinder by December 8 and posted the matter for final hearing on December 10.</div><div> </div><div>When contacted, DLF refused to comment on the matter, saying the issue is sub-judice. Its senior counsel Janakdwarka Das, too, declined to comment.</div><div> </div><div>The sources, however, confirmed the company has submitted the affidavit for permission to redeem Rs 1,600 crore with the details of funds it needs till December 31, as directed by the tribunal.</div><div> </div><div>On October 14, Sebi banned DLF and six of its senior-most officials, including founder-Chairman K.P. Singh, from capital markets for three years. The company challenged the ban in SAT and sought an interim relief on October 22.</div><div> </div><div>The Sebi took action against DLF for not disclosing the details about three of its 353 subsidiaries/associate companies in its 2007 IPO filing. This was one of the rare orders by Sebi where it barred a blue-chip firm and its top promoter/executives from market.</div><div> </div><div>While promoters own 74.93 per cent stake in DLF, foreign institutional investors have close to 20 per cent and retail shareholders about 4 per cent, among others.</div><div> </div><div>(PTI)</div>
