Did nothing wrong, says Vijay Rupani as tribunal sets aside SEBI penalty

The Securities Appellate Tribunal has set aside an order of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) that had imposed penalties on 22 entities, including Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani’s Hindu Undivided Family (HUF), for “manipulative trading”. Rupani, who posted a copy of the tribunal’s November 8 order on Twitter on Thursday, told The Indian Express, “I have done nothing wrong... not broken any rules and paid all the taxes and stamp duty... On the contrary, I made losses of Rs 28,000.” The tribunal order, passed on a petition filed by Akshay Harishbhai Desai of Rajkot, one of those who had received notices, set aside the SEBI order of October 27 and gave all the parties three weeks to reply. “We will file the reply in the stipulated time,” Rupani said. According to the SEBI order, the regulator imposed penalties of Rs 6.90000000 on all the entities, including Rupani’s HUF, for “manipulative trading” through a listed firm, Sarang Chemicals. The order pertains to price manipulation, misleading appearance and creating fake volumes in the shares of Sarang Chemicals. In a series of tweets, the CM wrote, “In 2011, the share broker of Vijay Rupani carried out only one transaction which is a minuscule part of the total transactions done by several unconnected entities.” When The Indian Express visited the registered office address of Sarang Chemicals Limited in Ahmedabad, listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange as “Anushruti Towers”, it turned out to be in a residential building in Thaltej. The premises on the eighth floor was locked and there was no signboard. An occupant of a neighbouring flat said the premises did not belong to any company and the occupants who ran a “studio” were mostly not at home.