Sebi imposes Rs 8 lakh fine on R S Agarwal

live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More × Markets regulator Sebi imposed a penalty of Rs 800000 on Emami chairman R S Agarwal in a matter related to Amrutanjan Healthcare Limited (AHL). In an order, the regulator said that the desire expressed by the chairman of a listed company (Emami) to buy AHL, without first discussing the same in its board is a reckless statement, which impacted the trading as well as the price of the scrip of AHL. Sebi said that Emami as well as Agarwal have confirmed that the board of directors of the firm did not make any plan of acquiring AHL before the publication of the statement or after publication of the statement in the media. "Further, I note that the company (Emami Limited has also confirmed that no valuation of AHL was done neither any entity engaged for the purpose of valuation/ acquisition of AHL," the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said. "Therefore, the desire expressed by the noticee/ Chairman of a listed company, without first discussing the same in its board is a reckless statement and the statement had impacted the closing price of AHL risen by almost 20% on April 5, 2010 after the media report on both NSE and BSE and the traded volumes also increased by 188% on NSE and by 228% on BSE on that day," it added. According to the order, Agarwal violated the provisions of PFUTP (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices Relating to the Securities Market) Regulations.