The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India has dismissed the Civil Appeal filed by New Delhi–based NGO Infrastructure Watchdog with a stern warning to the NGO for attempting to mislead the judiciary with fabricated documents, including a false email.
The Court recorded in its order dated August 25, 2025:
- Heard learned senior counsel appearing for the parties at length.
- We are not inclined to interfere with the impugned order passed by the Securities Appellate Tribunal, Mumbai.
- The Civil Appeal is, accordingly, dismissed. Pending interlocutory application(s), if any, are disposed of.
This ruling upholds the 16 July 2025 order of the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT), which had already dismissed the NGO’s petition. SAT reaffirmed that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had conducted a detailed review and confirmed that the declaration and documents of Smartworks are in order.
Despite these motivated attempts to derail the process, the Smartworks IPO was met with overwhelming investor demand. The issue was oversubscribed 13.45 times overall, including 24.4 times in the Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIB) category – underscoring strong institutional confidence in the Company’s fundamentals.
Commenting on the SC verdict, Neetish Sarda, Managing Director & Founder, Smartworks said, “This verdict by the Hon’ble Supreme Court brings a conclusive end to a malicious attempt against our IPO and also reaffirms Smartworks’ reputation for transparency, governance, and integrity. With the IPO successfully completed and our shares actively trading, investor confidence speaks for itself. The strong institutional participation, alongside our consistent disclosures and compliance, underscores the trust placed in Smartworks’ business model with a long-term growth.”
On July 8, 2025, NGO Infrastructure Watchdog had filed an appeal before SAT claiming SEBI had not acted on its complaints against Smartworks. SAT dismissed the appeal summarily citing no merit. Based on this, the NGO moved the Supreme Court.
