The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a petition alleging that popular advertisement campaigns such as “Mutual Funds Sahi Hai” create a misleading impression of assured financial safety for investors.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta was hearing a challenge to a September order of the Bombay High Court, which had dismissed a public interest litigation seeking curbs on investor awareness campaigns run by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI).
The PIL had sought directions to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to revoke the liberty granted to AMFI to conduct investor education and awareness programmes. The petitioner had also urged the court to restrain AMFI from continuing campaigns titled “Mutual Funds Sahi Hai”, “Mutual Funds Mein SIP Sahi Hai” and “Be Patient and Stay Invested”.
According to the petitioner, who appeared in person, these campaigns neither educate investors nor adequately disclose the risks involved in mutual fund investments, and instead give a false sense of financial security. Before the Supreme Court, he argued that the Bombay High Court had taken a “hasty decision” in dismissing his plea.
The bench, however, noted that a similar PIL filed by the petitioner had earlier been dismissed by the high court, and that the Supreme Court had already rejected a challenge to that order in July this year. When the petitioner contended that the earlier dismissal was on maintainability and not on merits, the bench remained unconvinced.
Refusing to entertain the plea, the court remarked, “Don’t worry. Let the others bother for themselves.”
In its September order, the Bombay High Court had observed that the petitioner failed to place any data on record to substantiate his claim that investors were being misled by the advertisements. The high court had pointed out that there was no material from the government or any reliable source to demonstrate the gravity or seriousness of the alleged harm.
“In these circumstances, the lack of material details, either accidental or deliberate, is sufficient to dismiss this PIL,” the high court had said.
With the Supreme Court declining to intervene, the Bombay High Court’s dismissal of the PIL stands, allowing AMFI’s investor awareness campaigns to continue.
