Harshad Mehta Scam India Compilation
Sebi debars Harshad Mehta from securities dealing; BPL, Videocon, Sterlite restricted
On Thursday, Sebi barred Harshad Mehta from dealing in securities. It also prohibited BPL Limited, Videocon International and Sterlite Industries from accessing the capital market for four, three and two years respectively. It also ordered prosecution proceedings against all the above parties.
Sebi finished its investigations into the alleged price manipulations in the scrips of BPL, Videocon and Sterlite in 1998.
Sebi completed its investigations in three stages. In the first stage, it found that a set of brokers and sub brokers acting on behalf of a common set of clients who were acting as a front for Harshad Mehta cornered large chunk of shares of Videocon, BPL and Sterlite. This cornering led to price manipulation and the scrip prices rose substantially. Sebi suspended 17 brokers (10 of BSE and 7 of NSE) for periods ranging from one to three years. Several other brokers were given lesser punishment.
In the second stage, it asked the then BSE president J C Parekh to relinquish office. The BSE vice president Rajendra Banthia resigned following investigations. Later investigations were completed against Harshad Mehta and BPL, Videocon and Sterlite by October 1999.
It then issued show cause notices to them in December 1999. Sebi was then required to hear these cases in quasi-judicial manner. After inspecting the documents and cross-examining the witnesses, Sebi passed the following orders on April 19, 2001.
It debarred Harshad Mehta from dealing in securities under Section 11 and 11B of Sebi Act, read with Regulation 11 of Sebi (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices for dealing in securities) Regulations. His prosecution has also been ordered under section 24 of Sebi Act.
BPL Limited, Videocon International and Sterlite Industries have been debarred from accessing the capital market for a period of four, three...
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