The minutes of this meeting show that despite Singhvi's open protest, the board was not informed about the opening of the trading terminals after close of trading hours on June 12, Sebi officials said while refuting BSE's charges that the regulator had been informed of all developments through several calls.

"The issue is not of how many calls were made to us by BSE officials during the crisis. The issue is of what was disclosed to us. One thing is clear: the BSE never informed Sebi about the opening of the trading terminals. The BSE president has been charged for this very act of omission," said a Sebi source.

Singhvi's stand at the June 14 meeting, according to Sebi officials, shows that the regulator had, from the very beginning, opposed certain moves by BSE.

Sebichairman DR Mehta, who returned to town on Friday, refused to comment on the specifics of the case on the grounds that he was yet to deliver his verdict on two more cases ie, BSE executive director RC Mathur and the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

Sebi sources, however, told The Financial Express that Singhvi, who is the Sebi nominee on the BSE governing board, had, at the June 14 meeting, expressed his "disappointment" on the manner in which the exchange was handling the crisis.

"He made it clear in that meeting that the crisis had nothing to do with a disappointing budget and that the exchange's decision to collect adhoc margins in the form of shares was doubtful," said a Sebi insider.

"Hence, while it is correct that top Sebi officials were in touch with BSE officials throughout the payments crisis, its a blatant lie that Sebi was informed about having opened the trading terminals after trading hours," said the source.

"In fact, subsequently, at the June 30 board meeting, by when the tradingterminals had been opened twice more, only some names of brokers were presented to the governing board and even at this stage information of illegally opening the trading terminals was not provided to the Sebi nominee on the board," the source said.

"When a crisis breaks out, there are obviously conversations between a regulator and the institution. This does not imply that necessary information is passed down by the institution to the regulator," said the source.

Appellate body to hear Parekh plea on Apr 5

The appellate authority in the finance ministry has fixed April 5 as the date for hearing BSE president JC Parekh's plea against a Sebi order asking him to step down from his post.

This means that a stay, if any, would be granted well after Parekh's term as president would in any case come to an end. Parekh's term comes to an end on March 31.

Parekh moved the appellate authority on Friday. Parekh confirmed that April 5 had been fixed as the date of hearing in the matter. Sebi chairman DRMehta, however, said that he was not aware of the date of hearing.

Parekh had unsuccessfuly moved the Mumbai high court on Wednesday seeking a stay on the Sebi verdict. The court, while rejecting his petition, allowed him to continue in his post till 11.00 am on March 31 without discharging any official duty.

The court rejected the petition on the grounds that the appeal should be first referred to the appellate authority.