Judgements

Sebi vs Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. And … on 27 January, 2005

Securities Appellate Tribunal
Sebi vs Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. And … on 27 January, 2005
Bench: G Bajpai


ORDER

G.N. Bajpai, Chairman

1. BACKGROUND

1.1 Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. and Shri Harish Biyani are former members of Calcutta Stock Exchange (“CSE”).

1.2 DSQ Industries Ltd. was formerly known as Lexus Exports Ltd. DSQ Industries now known as Jardine Overseas Ltd. is a group company of Shri Dinesh Dalmia- main promoter of DSQ Software. Its shares are listed on the Calcutta Stock Exchange. DSQ Industries has its registered office address at 11/1A, Chowringhee Terrace, Calcutta – 700 020 and corporate office address is at 407-408, G.R. Complex, Anna Salai Nandanam, Chennai – 600 035.

1.3 SEBI conducted investigation into the trading in the shares of DSQ Industries Ltd. and the following was observed:

The total paid-up share capital of DSQ Industries Ltd. was Rs. 20,04,29,160 consisting of 2,00,42,916 shares of Rs. 10/- each.

As per the distribution schedule furnished by the company to SEBI, its broad shareholding pattern as on 28/09/2001 was as under:

————————————————————————————

Particulars No. of Shares % of total no. of shares

————————————————————————————

Foreign Holdings - Non Resident
Companies                              6,68,516                    3.33%
Govt / Govt Sponsored FI's -
Mutual Funds                           2,76,000                    1.37%
Directors and Relatives                1,18,800                    0.59%
Promoter Companies                     2,22,300                    1.11%
Other bodies corporate              1,06,36,700                   53.07%
Others                                  8120600                   40.51%
Total                               2,00,42,916                  100.00%

————————————————————————————

It was also observed that as per the previous distribution schedule dated 28/09/2000, its shareholding pattern was as under:

————————————————————————————

Particulars No. of Shares % of total no. of shares

————————————————————————————

Foreign Holdings - Non Resident
Companies                              95,96,216                        47.878%
Govt / Govt Sponsored FI's -
Nationalized Banks                     53,09,300                        26.490%
Directors and Relatives                 1,18,800                         0.593%
Promoter Companies                     27,66,700                        13.804%
Other bodies corporate                 16,29,400                         8.130%
General Public                          6,22,500                         3.105%
Total                                2,00,42,916                        100.00%

————————————————————————————

It was noticed that there were discrepancies in the distribution schedule filed by the company with the CSE and with SEBI. Examination of the distribution schedule dated 28/9/00 filed by the company with the CSE revealed the Non resident shareholding to be 92,63,916 shares (46.17%), Nationalized Banks shareholding to be 3939300 shares (19.65%), other body corporates to be 62,47,000 shares (31.17%) and shareholding of promoter companies was not stated.

1.4 In this backdrop, transactions of Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. and Shri Harish Biyani were examined. It was observed that these entities transacted heavily in the scrip of DSQ Industries Ltd. From the details of trade log and order log of the exchange from November 1, 2000 till March 31, 2001, it was observed that shares were not frequently traded. There were no major volumes observed till December 2000 and from December 6 to December 18 and December 20 & 21, significant volumes were observed. Further, analysis of price movement revealed that the price of the shares increased sharply from levels of Rs. 350- on January 1, 2001 to levels of Rs. 450/- on January 8, 2001. Significant trading was also observed on 4 days in the period i.e. January 1, 2, 4 and 8, 2001. Further, there was a spurt in the price in November 2000 also and the price started moving up from December 19, 2000 onwards. It was further observed that this price increase was on very low volumes of 100-500 shares. The trade analysis found are as under:

a) During November 2000 Titan Stock Broking Limited, Shri Harish Biyani, Amritlal Gopalji Thacker, Niraj Balasaria artificially increased the price of DSQ Industries through their trades. Titan Stock Broking and Amritlal Thackerji stated that transactions were done for various DSQ Industries Ltd. Promoter group entities like Cooltex, Hulda etc.

b) On December 20, 2000, the price of the scrip increased from Rs.298 to Rs.320 when Biyani Securities (P) Ltd traded in the scrip and in the next trade when SMIFS Securities traded, the price increased to Rs. 339 when a cross deal between Hulda Properties and SMIFS capital Markets was entered.

1.5 From the order log and trade log for the period 01-01-01 to 8/1/01, it was revealed that a large number of trades were carried on only between 2 brokers – namely Shri Harish Biyani and Amritlal Gopalji Thacker. Further, it was observed that Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. an associate of Shri Harish Biyani entered into cross deals also. On analysis, it was revealed that orders were placed at almost the same time by the buying and selling brokers. There was creation of artificial market and artificial volumes by synchronization of logging in of orders. Both the buying as well as selling orders were put by the buying and selling brokers for same quantity and for same price at the same time. The orders were also placed at prices higher than the last traded price. The price was thus artificially increased.

2. SHOW CAUSE NOTICE AND REPLY

2.1 In view of the above, a Show Cause Notice dated 19.02.04 was issued to Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. and Shri Harish Biyani asking them as to why directions under section 11 and 11B of the SEBI Act, 1992 read with regulation 11 of SEBI (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices Relating to Securities Market) Regulations, 1995 debarring them from dealing in securities for certain period or any other appropriate directions be not issued for the allegations stated therein.

2.2 Shri Harish Biyani replied to the said show cause vide his letter dated 26.02.04 as under:

1. That his Proprietary concern and Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd., being a company within the meaning of Companies Act, 1956, are two different entities and therefore they cannot be branded as a ‘group entity’.

2. That he was continuously sick.

3. That his office situated at 4, N.S. Road, Calcutta – 700001 was sealed by the police authorities since September, 2002.

4. That all the documents related to the trades of the period covered under the notice were either lying at the aforesaid office or were seized by Calcutta Police.

5. That none of the transactions as stated in the show cause notice was entered by his firm with the intent of any price manipulation, synchronised dealings, circular trading, matched dealing, structured trading, artificial market making/creating etc.

6. That his firm had not done any transaction with any of its client which was known to him as “DSQ Group entities”.

7. That his firm had not colluded with any promoters as alleged.

8. That all the transactions were done within the rules and regulations.

9. That his firm consistently has been complying with and cooperating with all the enquiries and investigations carried from time to time by SEBI or other agencies in sequel to the market debacle in the year 2001.

10. That there had never been any malafide intent in any of the deals made by his firm.

11. That the trades in question had been carried at the instance of respective clients and he had not been privy to any information regarding what transpired behind the scenes in the stated matter.

3. PERSONAL HEARING AND SUBMISSIONS

3.1 A personal hearing before the Chairman was granted to Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. and Shri Harish Biyani on 11.08.04 vide SEBI’s letter dated 19.07.04. Shri Harish Biyani vide letter dated 06.08.04 expressed his inability to attend the personal hearing due to ill health.

3.2 One more opportunity of being heard was given on 24.09.04 vide letter dated 06.09.04. Shri Harish Biyani vide his letter dated 11.09.04 again expressed his inability to attend the personal hearing due to ill health. Although fair and reasonable opportunity was granted, the parties failed to avail the same and hence the matter is disposed off based on material on record.

4. CONSIDERATION OF ISSUES

4.1 I have carefully examined the charges and the reply thereto.

4.2 It is observed from the order log and trade log analysis of 01.01.01, 02.01.01, 04.01.01 and 08.01.01 that there was unusual movement in the prices and volumes traded in the scrip of DSQ Industries Ltd due to which the price had shot up from Rs. 342 to Rs. 451/- as can be seen from the following :

Log analysis of 01/01/01

——————————————————————————————–

Date        Time    trd id  order id   Rate     time    Diff (sec)  b/s   mem  Mem  qty  ord.
                                                                                        rate
                                                                                        (Rs.)

——————————————————————————————–

01-01-01  10:58:54   876    61013758    342   10:58:52     ****     Sell  35   467  100   342
01-01-01  10:58:54   876    210590148   342   10:58:48    0:00:04   Buy   467  35   100   342
01-01-01  10:59:11   877    61013761   344.8  10:59:10     ****     Buy   35   467  100  344.8
01-01-01  10:59:11   877    210590153  344.8  10:59:02    0:00:08   Sell  467  35   100  344.8
01-01-01  11:01:51   878    61013795    347   11:01:51     ****     Sell  35   467  100   347
01-01-01  11:01:51   878    210590212   347   11:01:46    0:00:05   Buy   467  35   100   347
01-01-01  11:02:13   879    61013798   349.5  11:02:11     ****     Buy   35   467  100  349.5
01-01-01  11:02:13   879    210590216  349.5  11:02:03    0:00:08   Sell  467  35   100  349.5
01-01-01  11:02:28   880    61013799   350.6  11:02:27     ****     Sell  35   467  100  350.6
01-01-01  11:02:28   880    210590222  350.6  11:02:18    0:00:09   Buy   467  35   100  350.6
01-01-01  11:02:45   881    61013802   352.8  11:02:44     ****     Buy   35   467  100  352.8
01-01-01  11:02:45   881    210590226  352.8  11:02:35    0:00:09   Sell  467  35   100  352.8
01-01-01  11:03:07   882    61013806   353.9  11:03:06     ****     Sell  35   467  100  353.9
01-01-01  11:03:07   882    210590229  353.9  11:02:58    0:00:08   Buy   467  35   100  353.9
01-01-01  11:03:22   883    61013808    356   11:03:22     ****     Buy   35   467  100   356
01-01-01  11:03:22   883    210590232   356   11:03:13    0:00:09   Sell  467  35   100   356
01-01-01  11:03:38   884    61013811    357   11:03:36     ****     Buy   35   467  100   357
01-01-01  11:03:38   884    210590235   357   11:03:29    0:00:07   Sell  467  35   100   357
01-01-01  11:03:55   885    61013813   359.8  11:03:54     ****     Sell  35   467  100  359.8
01-01-01  11:03:55   885    210590240  359.8  11:03:44    0:00:10   Buy   467  35   100  359.8
01-01-01  12:09:53   886    61014459    360   12:09:51     ****     Sell  35   805  100   360
01-01-01  12:09:53   886    150958941   360   12:09:52    0:00:01   Buy   805  35   100   360
01-01-01  12:10:09   887    61014461   360.8  12:10:08     ****     Buy   35   805  100  360.8
01-01-01  12:10:09   887    150958945  360.8  12.10.03    0.00.05   Sell  805  35   100  360.8
01-01-01  12:10:42   888    61014464   361.2  12:10:41     ****     Buy   35   805  100  361.2
01-01-01  12:10:42   888    150958959  361.2  12:10:34    0:00:07   Sell  805  35   100  361.2
01-01-01  12:10:59   889    61014466   361.9  12:10:58     ****     Sell  35   805  100  361.9
01-01-01  12:10:59   889    150958966  361.9  12:10:52    0:00:06   Buy   805  35   100  361.9
01-01-01  12:11:29   890    61014469   361.6  12:11:17     ****     Sell  35   805  100  361.6
01-01-01  12:11:29   890    150958978  361.6  12:11:29    0:00:12   Buy   805  35   100  361.6
01-01-01  12:11:51   891    61014474   362.4  12:11:50     ****     Buy   35   805  100  362.4
01-01-01  12:11:51   891    150958980  362.4  12:11:43    0:00:07   Sell  805  35   100  362.4
01-01-01  12:12:12   892    61014479   362.1  12:12:12     ****     Sell  35   805  100  362.1
01-01-01  12:12:12   892    150958987  362.1  12:12:10    0:00:02   Buy   805  35   100  362.1
01-01-01  12:12:30   893    61014483   363.3  12:12:29     ****     Buy   35   805  100  363.3
01-01-01  12:12:30   893    150958990  363.3  12:12:25    0:00:04   Sell  805  35   100  363.3
01-01-01  12:32:11   894    61014587   363.1  12:32:10     ****     Sell  35   467  100  363.1
01-01-01  12:32:11   894    210591294  363.1  12:32:04    0:00:06   Buy   467  35   100  363.1
01-01-01  12:32:29   895    61014588   363.8  12:32:28     ****     Buy   35   467  100  363.8
01-01-01  12:32:29   895    210591295  363.8  12:32:21    0:00:07   Sell  467  35   100  363.8

——————————————————————————————–

35 : HARISH CHANDRA BIYANI 467 : NIRAJ KUMAR BALASARIA 805 :AMRATLAL GOPALJI THACKER

Log analysis of 2/1/01

—————————————————————————————–

Date       time    trd id  order id   Rate     time      diff   b/s   mem  Mem  qty  ord.
                                                                                     rate

—————————————————————————————–

02-02-01  14:52:28   896    210595213   366   14:52:26    ****   sell  35   805  100  366
02-02-01  14:52:28   896    180721378   366   14:52:17  0:00:09  buy   805  35   100  366
02-02-01  14:52:49   897    210595221  368.7  14:52:48    ****   buy   35   805  100  368.7
02-02-01  14:52:49   897    90957919   368.7  14:52:39  0:00:09  sell  805  35   100  368.7
02-02-01  14:53:17   898    210595226  370.8  14:53:15    ****   buy   35   805  100  370.8
02-02-01  14:53:17   898    180721395  370.8  14:53:06  0:00:09  sell  805  35   100  370.8
02-02-01  14:53:39   899    210595231   373   14:53:38    ****   buy   35   805  100   373
02-02-01  14:53:39   899    180721404   373   14:53:30  0:00:08  sell  805  35   100   373
02-02-01  14:54:08   900    210595234  375.6  14:54:07    ****   sell  35   805  100  375.6
02-02-01  14:54:08   900    180721412  375.6  14:54:00  0:00:07  buy   805  35   100  375.6
02-02-01  14:54:35   901    210595243  377.8  14:54:34    ****   sell  35   805  100  377.8
02-02-01  14:54:35   901    180721418  377.8  14:54:16  0:00:18  buy   805  35   100  377.8
02-02-01  14:55:02   902    210595253  379.6  14:55:02    ****   sell  35   805  100  379.6
02-02-01  14:55:02   902    180721426  379.6  14:54:51  0:00:11  buy   805  35   100  379.6
02-02-01  14:55:36   903    210595258  381.1  14:55:33    ****   sell  35   805  100  381.1
02-02-01  14:55:36   903    180721434  381.1  14:55:24  0:00:09  buy   805  35   100  381.1
02-02-01  14:55:54   904    210595262  382.9  14:55:53    ****   buy   35   805  100  382.9
02-02-01  14:55:54   904    180721438  382.9  14:55:43  0:00:10  sell  805  35   100  382.9
02-02-01  14:56:07   905    210595265  384.6  14:56:06    ****   buy   35   805  100  384.6
02-02-01  14:56:07   905    180721440  384.6  14:55:57  0:00:09  sell  805  35   100  384.6
02-02-01  14:56:20   906    210595267  386.7  14:56:18    ****   buy   35   805  100  386.7
02-02-01  14:56:20   906    180721445  386.7  14:56:11  0:00:07  sell  805  35   100  386.7
02-02-01  14:56:29   907    210595271  388.5  14:56:28    ****   buy   35   805  100  388.5
02-02-01  14:56:29   907    180721449  388.5  14:56:22  0:00:06  sell  805  35   100  388.5
02-02-01  14:56:44   908    210595275  389.8  14:56:42    ****   buy   35   805  100  389.8
02-02-01  14:56:44   908    180721453  389.8  14:56:33  0:00:09  sell  805  35   100  389.8
02-02-01  14:57:27   909    210595289   387   14:57:26    ****   sell  35   805  200   387
02-02-01  14:57:27   909    180721464   387   14:57:19  0:00:07  buy   805  35   200   387
02-02-01  14:57:50   910    210595295  390.2  14:57:50    ****   sell  35   805  100  390.2
02-02-01  14:57:50   910    90957990   390.2  14:57:42  0:00:08  buy   805  35   100  390.2
02-02-01  14:58:20   911    210595304  389.1  14:58:18    ****   sell  35   805  100  389.1
02-02-01  14:58:20   911    180721480  389.1  14:58:07  0:00:11  buy   805  35   100  389.1
02-02-01  14:58:34   912    210595309  390.1  14:58:32    ****   sell  35   805  100  390.1
02-02-01  14:58:34   912    180721486  390.1  14:58:25  0:00:07  buy   805  35   100  390.1
02-02-01  14:58:51   913    210595315  390.8  14:58:49    ****   buy   35   805  100  390.8
02-02-01  14:58:51   913    180721490  390.8  14:58:40  0:00:09  sell  805  35   100  390.8
02-02-01  14:59:18   914    31147583   390.6  14:59:17    ****   buy   35   805  100  390.6
02-02-01  14:59:18   914    90958020   390.6  14:59:09  0:00:08  sell  805  35   100  390.6

——————————————————————————————

——————————————————————————————–

Date    Trade     Order    Rate    Order     B/s   Sell Mem   Buy mem   Client  Qty  Order
        time       no               time                                              rate

——————————————————————————————–

2/1/1  14:52:28  210595213  366   14:52:26  Sell    Harish     Amritlal   Self  100  366.00
                                                    Chandra    Gopalji
                                                    Biyani     Thacker
2/1/1  14:52:28  180721378  366   14:52:17  Buy    Amritlal    Harish     Self  100  366.00
                                                    Gopalji    Chandra
                                                    Thacker    Biyani

——————————————————————————————–

From the above , it is observed that on 02-02-01, A G Thacker placed a buy order no. 180721378 at 14.52.17 hrs for 100 shares @ Rs. 366 when the last traded price was Rs. 363.8. Thereafter, within a span of 9 seconds i.e. at 14.52.26 hrs, Shri Harish Biyani placed a sell order no. 210595213 for 100 shares at the same price i.e. Rs. 366. These orders were matched at 14.52.28 hrs for 100 shares

Log analysis of 4/1/01

——————————————————————————————–

Date Time trd id order id rate Time diff b/s mem Mem qty ord. rate

——————————————————————————————–

04-01-01  13:10:23  915    61026497  392.5  13:10:22    ****   sell   35  805  100     395
04-01-01  13:10:23  915   180728792   395   13:10:20  0:00:02  buy   805   35  100     395
04-01-01  13:10:31  916    61026500  392.5  13:10:30    ****   sell   35  805  100    392.5
04-01-01  13:10:31  916   180728790  392.5  13:10:12  0:00:18  buy   805   35  100    392.5
04-01-01  13:10:45  917    61026501  397.6  13:10:44    ****   sell   35  805  100    397.6
04-01-01  13:10:45  917   180728795  397.6  13:10:35  0:00:09  buy   805   35  100    397.6
04-01-01  13:10:57  918    61026503  399.9  13:10:56    ****   sell   35  805  100    399.9
04-01-01  13:10:57  918   180728796  399.9  13:10:49  0:00:07  buy   805   35  100    399.9
04-01-01  13:11:18  919    61026505  402.4  13:11:17    ****   buy    35  805  100    402.4
04-01-01  13:11:18  919   180728798  402.4  13:11:08  0:00:09  sell  805   35  100    402.4
04-01-01  13:11:38  920    61026510  405.3  13:11:36    ****   buy    35  805  200    405.3
04-01-01  13:11:38  920   180728802  405.3  13:11:23  0:00:13  sell  805   35  200    405.3
04-01-01  13:15:49  921    61026540  406.4  13:15:47    ****   buy    35  805  100    406.4
04-01-01  13:15:49  921   180728835  406.4  13:15:30  0:00:17  sell  805   35  100    406.4
04-01-01  13:16:09  922    61026543  407.5  13:16:08    ****   buy    35  805  100    407.5
04-01-01  13:16:09  922   180728839  407.5  13:15:59  0:00:09  sell  805   35  100    407.5
04-01-01  13:16:21  923    61026544  408.5  13:16:20    ****   buy    35  805  100    408.5
04-01-01  13:16:21  923   180728840  408.5  13:16:11  0:00:09  sell  805   35  100    408.5
04-01-01  13:16:33  924    61026545  409.9  13:16:32    ****   buy    35  805  100    409.9
04-01-01  13:16:33  924   180728841  409.9  13:16:23  0:00:09  sell  805   35  100    409.9
04-01-01  13:16:43  925    61026547  410.8  13:16:42    ****   buy    35  805  100    410.8
04-01-01  13:16:43  925   180728843  410.8  13:16:35  0:00:07  sell  805   35  100    410.8
04-01-01  13:17:00  926    61026549  411.5  13:16:59    ****   sell   35  805  100    411.5
04-01-01  13:17:00  926   180728845  411.5  13:16:51  0:00:08  buy   805   35  100    411.5
04-01-01  13:17:13  927    61026551  412.4  13:17:12    ****   sell   35  805  100    412.4
04-01-01  13:17:13  927   180728848  412.4  13:17:02  0:00:10  buy   805   35  100    412.4
04-01-01  13:17:38  928    61026556  413.8  13:17:37    ****   sell   35  805  100    413.8
04-01-01  13:17:38  928   180728854  413.8  13:17:27  0:00:10  buy   805   35  100    413.8
04-01-01  13:18:03  929    61026558  416.1  13:18:01    ****   sell   35  805  100    416.1
04-01-01  13:18:03  929   180728857  416.1  13:17:51  0:00:10  buy   805   35  100    416.1
04-01-01  13:18:33  930    61026563  416.4  13:18:32    ****   buy    35  805  500    416.4
04-01-01  13:18:33  930   180728866  416.4  13:18:22  0:00:10  sell  805   35  500    416.4
04-01-01  13:18:53  931    61026572  417.5  13:18:52    ****   sell   35  805  300    417.5
04-01-01  13:18:53  931   180728870  417.5  13:18:43  0:00:09  buy   805   35  300    417.5
04-01-01  13:19:08  932    61026574  418.5  13:19:06    ****   sell   35  805  100    418.5
04-01-01  13:19:08  932   180728874  418.5  13:18:56  0:00:10  buy   805   35  100    418.5
04-01-01  13:19:29  933    61026580  419.6  13:19:28    ****   sell   35  805  100    419.6
04-01-01  13:19:29  933   180728880  419.6  13:19:20  0:00:08  buy   805   35  100    419.6
04-01-01  13:20:01  934    61026583  417.5  13:19:59    ****   buy    35  805  200    417.5
04-01-01  13:20:01  934   180728885  417.5  13:19:53  0:00:06  sell  805   35  200    417.5
04-01-01  13:20:21  935    61026587  419.5  13:20:20    ****   sell   35  805  100    419.5
04-01-01  13:20:21  935   180728892  419.5  13:20:11  0:00:09  buy   805   35  100    419.5
04-01-01  13:20:32  936    61026588  419.8  13:20:31    ****   sell   35  805  100    419.8
04-01-01  13:20:32  936   180728900  419.8  13:20:23  0:00:08  buy   805   35  100    419.8

——————————————————————————————–

Log analysis of 8/1/01

——————————————————————————————–

Date       Time      trd     order     Rate   time     Diff     b/s  mem  Mem   qty    Ord.
                     id       id                                                       rate

——————————————————————————————–

08-01-01  12:43:48   937    61030594  424.4  12:43:47   ****    sell   35  805   100   424.4
08-01-01  12:43:48   937   180732375  424.4  12:43:37  0:00:10   buy  805   35   100   424.4
08-01-01  12:44:03   938    61030596  427.8  12:44:02   ****     buy   35  805   100   427.8
08-01-01  12:44:03   938   180732379  427.8  12:43:54  0:00:08  sell  805   35   100   427.8
08-01-01  12:44:25   939    61030598  430.4  12:44:24   ****    sell   35  805   100   430.4
08-01-01  12:44:25   939   180732380  430.4  12:44:12  0:00:12   buy  805   35   100   430.4
08-01-01  12:44:43   940    61030599  432.8  12:44:42   ****     buy   35  805   100   432.8
08-01-01  12:44:43   940   180732383  432.8  12:44:33  0:00:09  sell  805   35   100   432.8
08-01-01  12:44:59   941    61030601  435.6  12:44:58   ****    sell   35  805   100   435.6
08-01-01  12:44:59   941   180732384  435.6  12:44:49  0:00:09   buy  805   35   100   435.6
08-01-01  12:45:12   942    61030602  438.2  12:45:11   ****     buy   35  805   100   438.2
08-01-01  12:45:12   942   180732386  438.2  12:45:00  0:00:11  sell  805   35   100   438.2
08-01-01  12:45:24   943    61030603  439.9  12:45:22   ****     buy   35  805   100   439.9
08-01-01  12:45:24   943   180732387  439.9  12:45:14  0:00:08  sell  805   35   100   439.9
08-01-01  12:45:45   944    61030608  443.5  12:45:44   ****     buy   35  805   100   443.5
08-01-01  12:45:45   944   180732390  443.5  12:45:37  0:00:07  sell  805   35   100   443.5
08-01-01  12:46:04   945    31158351  445.4  12:46:02   ****    sell   35  805   100   445.4
08-01-01  12:46:04   945   180732393  445.4  12:45:54  0:00:08   buy  805   35   100   445.4
08-01-01  12:46:15   946    61030614  447.7  12:46:15   ****    sell   35  805   100   447.7
08-01-01  12:46:15   946   180732394  447.7  12:46:06  0:00:09   buy  805   35   100   447.7
08-01-01  12:46:43   947    61030620  448.2  12:46:41   ****    sell   35  805   100   448.2
08-01-01  12:46:43   947   180732397  448.2  12:46:29  0:00:12   buy  805   35   100   448.2
08-01-01  12:47:05   948    61030627  449.5  12:47:04   ****     buy   35  805   200   449.5
08-01-01  12:47:05   948   180732402  449.5  12:46:51  0:00:13  sell  805   35   200   449.5
08-01-01  12:47:37   949    61030634  450.2  12:47:37   ****     buy   35  805   100   450.2
08-01-01  12:47:37   949   180732407  450.2  12:47:30  0:00:07  sell  805   35   100   450.2
08-01-01  12:48:19   950    61030638  446.7  12:48:17   ****     buy   35  805   100   446.7
08-01-01  12:48:19   950   180732408  446.7  12:48:17  0:00:00  sell  805   35   100   446.7
08-01-01  12:48:36   951    61030643  447.6  12:48:35   ****     buy   35  805   100   447.6
08-01-01  12:48:36   951   180732411  447.6  12:48:29  0:00:06  sell  805   35   100   447.6
08-01-01  12:48:54   952    61030646  450.6  12:48:53   ****    sell   35  805   100   450.6
08-01-01  12:48:54   952   180732412  450.6  12:48:44  0:00:09   buy  805   35   100   450.6
08-01-01  12:49:14   953    61030649  450.9  12:49:12   ****    sell   35  805   100   450.9
08-01-01  12:49:14   953   180732415  450.9  12:49:05  0:00:07   buy  805   35   100   450.9
08-01-01  12:53:45   954    61030688   450   12:53:23   ****     buy   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:53:45   954    61030691   450   12:53:44  0:00:21  sell   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:53:55   955    61030690   450   12:53:43   ****     buy   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:53:55   955    61030695   450   12:53:54  0:00:11  sell   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:54:02   956    61030692   450   12:53:50   ****     buy   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:54:02   956    61030699   450   12:54:02  0:00:12  sell   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:54:13   957    61030697   450   12:53:56   ****     buy   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:54:13   957    61030703   450   12:54:12  0:00:16  sell   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:54:22   958    61030701   450   12:54:02   ****     buy   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:54:22   958    61030706   450   12:54:20  0:00:18  sell   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:54:29   959    61030702   450   12:54:09   ****     buy   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:54:29   959    61030708   450   12:54:28  0:00:19  sell   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:54:36   960    61030704   450   12:54:16   ****     buy   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:54:36   960    61030710   450   12:54:35  0:00:19  sell   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:54:42   961    31158397   450   12:54:21   ****     buy   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:54:42   961    61030713   450   12:54:41  0:00:20  sell   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:54:49   962    61030707   450   12:54:27   ****     buy   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:54:49   962    61030716   450   12:54:48  0:00:21  sell   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:55:00   963    61030709   450   12:54:34   ****     buy   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:55:00   963    61030718   450   12:54:59  0:00:25  sell   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:55:06   964    61030712   450   12:54:39   ****     buy   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:55:06   964    61030720   450   12:55:06  0:00:27  sell   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:55:13   965    61030715   450   12:54:45   ****     buy   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:55:13   965    61030722   450   12:55:12  0:00:27  sell   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:55:19   966    61030717   450   12:54:54   ****     buy   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:55:19   966    61030725   450   12:55:18  0:00:24  sell   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:55:24   967    61030719   450   12:55:05   ****     buy   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:55:24   967    61030727   450   12:55:23  0:00:18  sell   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:55:32   968    61030721   450   12:55:11   ****     buy   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:55:32   968    61030728   450   12:55:31  0:00:20  sell   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:55:38   969    61030724   450   12:55:16   ****     buy   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:55:38   969    61030730   450   12:55:37  0:00:21  sell   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:55:46   970    61030726   450   12:55:21   ****     buy   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:55:46   970    61030733   450   12:55:44  0:00:23  sell   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:55:52   971    61030729   450   12:55:35   ****     buy   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:55:52   971    61030735   450   12:55:51  0:00:16  sell   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:55:58   972    61030732   450   12:55:43   ****     buy   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:55:58   972    61030736   450   12:55:58  0:00:15  sell   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:56:04   973    61030734   450   12:55:49   ****     buy   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:56:04   973    61030737   450   12:56:03  0:00:14  sell   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:56:46   974    61030742   450   12:56:38   ****     buy   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:56:46   974    61030744   450   12:56:45  0:00:07  sell   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:56:50   975    61030743   450   12:56:44   ****     buy   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  12:56:50   975    61030747   450   12:56:50  0:00:06  sell   35   35  10000  450
08-01-01  13:09:47   976    31158550  450.9  13:09:46   ****    sell   35  805   100  450.9
08-01-01  13:09:47   976   210606701  450.9  13:09:38  0:00:08   buy  805   35   100  450.9
08-01-01  13:10:14   977    61030888  451.2  13:10:14   ****    sell   35  805   100  451.2
08-01-01  13:10:14   977   180732535   451   13:09:46  0:00:28   buy  805   35   100  451.2

——————————————————————————————–

From the above, it is observed that there was creation of artificial market and artificial volumes as a result of synchronization in logging in / matching of buy and sell orders amongst few brokers. Orders were purchased within a gap of few seconds by Shri Harish Biyani for the same quantity and same rate to ensure that buyers get the desired sellers and vice versa. Thus, there was circular trading also. There was price manipulation as the orders were placed at successively higher prices than the last traded prices.

4.3 It is noted that after the share prices rose dramatically from Rs.342 to Rs.450 against low volumes of trades as seen from the above trades, there were several cross deals by Shir Harish Biyani wherein both the buyer and seller were his clients for very large volumes to the tune of 10000 shares per transaction as shown under :

——————————————————————————————–

Date Time Ord id Rate Time Time diff b/s mem mem Clt cod qty ord. rate

——————————————————————————————–

8/1/1 12:53:45  61030688  450   12:53:23     ****    buy   35    35  nainabarter  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:53:45  61030691  450   12:53:44   0:00:21   sell  35    35   greenfield  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:53:55  61030690  450   12:53:43     ****    buy   35    35  nainabarter  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:53:55  61030695  450   12:53:54   0:00:11   sell  35    35   greenfield  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:54:02  61030692  450   12:53:50     ****    buy   35    35  nainabarter  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:54:02  61030699  450   12:54:02   0:00:12   sell  35    35   greenfield  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:54:13  61030697  450   12:53:56     ****    buy   35    35  nainabarter  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:54:13  61030703  450   12:54:12   0:00:16   sell  35    35   greenfield  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:54:22  61030701  450   12:54:02     ****    buy   35    35  nainabarter  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:54:22  61030706  450   12:54:20   0:00:18   sell  35    35   greenfield  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:54:29  61030702  450   12:54:09     ****    buy   35    35  nainabarter  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:54:29  61030708  450   12:54:28   0:00:19   sell  35    35   greenfield  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:54:36  61030704  450   12:54:16     ****    buy   35    35  nainabarter  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:54:36  61030710  450   12:54:35   0:00:19   sell  35    35   greenfield  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:54:42  31158397  450   12:54:21     ****    buy   35    35  nainabarter  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:54:42  61030713  450   12:54:41   0:00:20   sell  35    35   greenfield  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:54:49  61030707  450   12:54:27     ****    buy   35    35  nainabarter  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:54:49  61030716  450   12:54:48   0:00:21   sell  35    35   greenfield  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:55:00  61030709  450   12:54:34     ****    buy   35    35  nainabarter  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:55:00  61030718  450   12:54:59   0:00:25   sell  35    35   greenfield  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:55:06  61030712  450   12:54:39     ****    buy   35    35  nainabarter  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:55:06  61030720  450   12:55:06   0:00:27   sell  35    35   greenfield  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:55:13  61030715  450   12:54:45     ****    buy   35    35  nainabarter  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:55:13  61030722  450   12:55:12   0:00:27   sell  35    35   greenfield  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:55:19  61030717  450   12:54:54     ****    buy   35    35  nainabarter  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:55:19  61030725  450   12:55:18   0:00:24   sell  35    35   greenfield  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:55:24  61030719  450   12:55:05     ****    buy   35    35  nainabarter  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:55:24  61030727  450   12:55:23   0:00:18   sell  35    35   greenfield  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:55:32  61030721  450   12:55:11     ****    buy   35    35  nainabarter  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:55:32  61030728  450   12:55:31   0:00:20   sell  35    35   greenfield  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:55:38  61030724  450   12:55:16     ****    buy   35    35  nainabarter  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:55:38  61030730  450   12:55:37   0:00:21   sell  35    35   greenfield  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:55:46  61030726  450   12:55:21     ****    buy   35    35  nainabarter  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:55:46  61030733  450   12:55:44   0:00:23   sell  35    35   greenfield  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:55:52  61030729  450   12:55:35     ****    buy   35    35  nainabarter  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:55:52  61030735  450   12:55:51   0:00:16   sell  35    35   greenfield  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:55:58  61030732  450   12:55:43     ****    buy   35    35  nainabarter  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:55:58  61030736  450   12:55:58   0:00:15   sell  35    35   greenfield  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:56:04  61030734  450   12:55:49     ****    buy   35    35  nainabarter  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:56:04  61030737  450   12:56:03   0:00:14   sell  35    35   greenfield  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:56:46  61030742  450   12:56:38     ****    buy   35    35  Nainabarter  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:56:46  61030744  450   12:56:45   0:00:07   sell  35    35   Greenfield  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:56:50  61030743  450   12:56:44     ****    buy   35    35  Nainabarter  10000  450.00
8/1/1 12:56:50  61030747  450   12:56:50   0:00:06   sell  35    35  Greenfield  10000   450.00
8/1/1 13:09:47  31158550  450.9 13:09:46     ****    sell  35   805   SELF       100     450.90
8/1/1 13:09:47  210606701 450.9 13:09:38   0:00:08   buy   805   35   SELF       100     450.90
8/1/1 13:10:14  61030888  451.2 13:10:14     ****    sell  35   805   SELF       100     451.20
8/1/1 13:10:14  180732535 451   13:09:46   0:00:28   buy   805   35   SELF       100     451.20

——————————————————————————————–

Further, there was synchronization of logging in of orders. These transactions were also in the nature of synchronization of trades / matched orders/ structured trading which ensured matching of orders of seller with a specific buyer. These orders were placed simultaneously or within close proximity of each other. From the client code entered by the broker, it appears that the clients are Greenfield and Naina Barter. These transactions were to the tune of 2,20,000 shares and comprised 99% of the traded volumes on that day.

4.4 Similar transactions of high volumes were also observed on other dates i.e. 13/11/00, 15/11/00, 6/12/00, 12/12/00, 13/12/00, 14/12/00, 18/12/00, 20/12/00 and 21/12/00. Investigation into the order log and trade log on these dates brought out that transactions on these dates were also cross deals of Shri Harish Biyani. These transactions were also in the nature of synchronization of logging in of buy and sell orders with buy and sell order were put within close proximity of each other.

4.5 Therefore, I find that the price was artificially pushed from Rs. 340 levels to Rs. 452 levels within 4 trading days i.e. an increase of 33% on low volumes. Trading was concentrated among 3 brokers namely Shri Harish Biyani, Niraj Kumar Balasaria and Amritlal Gopalji Thacker. There was creation of artificial market and artificial volumes as a result of synchronization of logging in / matching of buy and sell orders. Orders were put within a gap of very few seconds by Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. and Shri Harish Biyani for the same quantity and same rate to ensure that buyers get the desired sellers and vice versa.

4.6 The transactions done by Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. and Shri Harish Biyani, in the ‘sell n cash’ scheme of SHCIL on 27/2/01 and 1/3/01 and cash on payout scheme on 2/3/01 in the shares of DSQ Industries is strong pointer to the promoter broker nexus between DSQ Group & Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. and Shri Harish Biyani. Promoters colluded with Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. and Shri Harish Biyani in obtaining finance on account of Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. and Shri Harish Biyani facing payment crisis on the CSE. Funds to the tune of approximately Rs. 34 crore and Rs. 8 crore were availed on 27/2/01 and 1/3/01 in the ‘sell n cash’ scheme.

These funds were made available on the same date as the transaction date. Thereafter, funds to the extent of around Rs. 24 crore was availed for cash on payout transactions done on 2/3/01. This amount was made available on 5/3/01 by discounting a post dated cheque given by SHC IL.

4.7 As stated above, the Promoters colluded with Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. and Shri Harish Biyani. Promoter associated entities – Hulda, Square D Textiles) credited shares of DSQ Industries to the demat account of Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. and Shri Harish Biyani then used these shares in addition to other shares lying with Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. and Shri Harish Biyani to avail of the schemes of SHC IL to obtain immediate sale consideration in the ‘sell-n-cash’ scheme of SHC IL as discussed above. Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. and Shri Harish Biyani also discounted post dated cheques given to them by SHC IL under the ‘cash on payout’ scheme. Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. was empanelled broker for selling the shares. Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. availed finance for self as well as for Shri Harish Biyani for selling these shares in the schemes.

4.8 The buying broker was Shri Harish Biyani who was buying shares for DSQ group entities. Shares were brought in synchronised deals with buying and selling orders logged in at almost the same time for same rate and quantity with prior understanding to match sell orders with specific buy orders. Brokers indulged in creation of artificial market, creation of artificial volumes as a result of synchronization / prior intention to matching orders. There was creation of artificial market and artificial volumes as a result of synchronization in logging in / matching of buy and sell orders. Orders are put within a gap of very few seconds by Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. and Shri Harish Biyani for the same quantity and same rate with a prior intention to match the orders to ensure that buyers get the desired sellers and vice versa. Shares effectively did not change beneficial ownership by remaining within the DSQ group. Thus, there was circular trading also.

4.9 For the purpose of large transactions only the days when there was volume of 1,00,000 shares or more was chosen in the entire period of November 1,2000 till March 31,2000. The Price Volume data is as under:

—————————————————————————

Date Volume Opening price High Low Close

—————————————————————————

06/12/2000       212500       275.00       275.00       275.00       275.00
12/12/2000       365000       274.00       274.00       274.00       274.00
13/12/2000       370000       275.00       275.00       275.00       275.00
14/12/2000       360000       280.00       280.00       280.00       280.00
18/12/2000       502500       275.00       280.00       275.00       280.00
20/12/2000       661600       310.00       320.30       296.00       320.10
21/12/2000       1088000      315.00       339.00       315.00       339.00
08/01/2001       222000       424.40       451.20       424.40       451.20
09/01/2001       262000       452.00       452.00       450.50       450.50
10/01/2001       235000       480.00       480.00       443.30       451.50
13/02/2001       325000       318.00       318.00       318.00       318.00

—————————————————————————

The trade log analysis shows that for all the trades done on December 6, 2000 the buying and selling broker was Shri Harish Biyani and the buying and selling clients were Hulda Properties and Trades Limited and Greenfield Investments respectively which were DSQ group associates. Other large trades between December 6,2000 and December 20,2000 were executed by Shri Harish Biyani as cross deals. The details are as under:

——————————————————————————

Date       Buying    Selling  Price   Quantity     Buying Client     Selling
           Broker    Broker                                           Client

——————————————————————————

12/12/00    HB        HB       274     365000     Arun Ploymer      Greenfield
13/12/00    HB        HB       275     370000     Cooltex
                                                  Commodities       Greenfield
14/12/00    HB        HB       280     360000     Aspolite Barter   Greenfield
18/12/00    HB        HB       275    5002500     Aspolite Barter   Greenfield
20/12/00    HB        HB       310     616600     Cooltex
                                                  Commodities       Greenfield

——————————————————————————

All these clients were introduced by Mr. Ashok Sharma, a director of Hulda Properties who used to place orders and later mentioned the names of the clients in whose name the contract notes are to be prepared.

4.10 Further there were huge transactions executed by Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. and Shri Harish Biyani on February 27, 2001. Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. sold a total of 10.4 lakh shares of DSQ Industries in the ‘sell n cash’ scheme of SHCIL @ Rs 335 per share in Rolling Settlement and the total transaction value was Rs 569.5 lacs. Examination revealed that when the selling broker was Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd., the buying broker for the shares on the other side was Shri Harish Biyani. The order log and trade log revealed that there was synchronization of buying and selling orders by these brokers as under:

 Date        Trade      Tr   Order    Order     Diff     B/S   Mem  Client Code   Qty    Price
            Time       No    NO      time      (sec)
27-02-01  12:16:13    1   61175322  12:16:13    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:16:13    1   31317843  12:15:37  0:00:36  sell   545     b110      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:16:56    2   61175333  12:16:56    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:16:56    2   31317859  12:16:32  0:00:24  sell   545     b110      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:17:18    3   61175338  12:17:18    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:17:18    3   31317864  12:17:07  0:00:11  sell   545     b110      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:17:27    4   61175342  12:17:27    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:17:27    4   31317867  12:17:17  0:00:10  sell   545     b110      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:17:33    5   61175347  12:17:33    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:17:33    5   31317870  12:17:26  0:00:07  sell   545     b110      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:17:43    6   61175350  12:17:43    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:17:43    6   31317874  12:17:36  0:00:07  sell   545     b110      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:18:03    7   61175356  12:18:02    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:18:03    7   31317880  12:17:55  0:00:07  sell   545     b110      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:18:12    8   61175359  12:18:11    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:18:12    8   31317884  12:18:03  0:00:08  sell   545     b110      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:18:42    9   61175371  12:18:42    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:18:42    9   31317895  12:18:34  0:00:08  sell   545     b110      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:18:55   10   61175383  12:18:55    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:18:55   10   31317902  12:18:47  0:00:08  sell   545     b110      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:19:05   11   61175389  12:19:05    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:19:05   11   31317909  12:19:00  0:00:05  sell   545     b110      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:19:16   12   61175394  12:19:15    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:19:16   12   31317913  12:19:10  0:00:05  sell   545     b110      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:19:29   13   61175402  12:19:28    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:19:29   13   31317920  12:19:22  0:00:06  sell   545     b110      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:19:45   14   61175411  12:19:45    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:19:45   14   31317927  12:19:38  0:00:07  sell   545     b110      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:19:56   15   61175419  12:19:56    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:19:56   15   31317932  12:19:50  0:00:06  sell   545     b110      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:20:07   16   61175427  12:20:07    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:20:07   16   31317938  12:19:59  0:00:08  sell   545     b110      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:20:19   17   61175431  12:20:19    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:20:19   17   31317945  12:20:07  0:00:12  sell   545     b110      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:20:28   18   61175437  12:20:28    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:20:28   18   31317949  12:20:17  0:00:11  sell   545     b110      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:20:34   19   61175443  12:20:34    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:20:34   19   31317955  12:20:28  0:00:06  sell   545     b110      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:20:55   20   61175452  12:20:55    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:20:55   20   31317963  12:20:42  0:00:13  sell   545     b110      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:21:07   21   61175459  12:21:07    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:21:07   21   31317972  12:21:02  0:00:05  sell   545     b110      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:21:16   22   80900215  12:21:15    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:21:16   22   31317976  12:21:11  0:00:04  sell   545     b110      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:22:17   23   61175482  12:22:17    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:22:17   23   31318004  12:22:09  0:00:08  sell   545     b110      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:22:25   24   61175484  12:22:24    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:22:25   24   31318011  12:22:18  0:00:06  sell   545     b110      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:22:41   25   61175488  12:22:40    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:22:41   25   31318018  12:22:34  0:00:06  sell   545     b110      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:22:59   26   61175493  12:22:58    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:22:59   26   51149345  12:22:52  0:00:06  sell   545     b110      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:23:13   27   61175500  12:23:13    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:23:13   27   31318028  12:23:05  0:00:08  sell   545     b110      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:23:23   28   61175502  12:23:23    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:23:23   28   31318033  12:23:17  0:00:06  sell   545     b110      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:23:36   29   61175507  12:23:36    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:23:36   29   31318037  12:23:28  0:00:08  sell   545     b110      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:23:55   30   61175512  12:23:55    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:23:55   30   31318042  12:23:48  0:00:07  sell   545     b110      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:24:07   31   61175517  12:24:07    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:24:07   31   31318048  12:24:01  0:00:06  sell   545     b110      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:24:20   32   61175522  12:24:20    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:24:20   32   31318052  12:24:14  0:00:06  sell   545     b110      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:24:39   33   61175528  12:24:39    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  5000   335.00
27-02-01  12:24:39   33   31318055  12:24:29  0:00:10  sell   545     b110      5000   335.00
27-02-01  12:27:34   34   61175580  12:27:34    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:27:34   34   31318110  12:27:23  0:00:11  sell   545     h001      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:27:47   35   61175584  12:27:47    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:27:47   35   31318118  12:27:41  0:00:06  sell   545     h001      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:27:58   36   61175590  12:27:58    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:27:58   36   31318121  12:27:52  0:00:06  sell   545     h001      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:28:07   37   61175594  12:28:07    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:28:07   37   31318128  12:28:02  0:00:05  sell   545     h001      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:28:19   38   61175598  12:28:19    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:28:19   38   31318137  12:28:14  0:00:05  sell   545     h001      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:28:36   39   61175612  12:28:36    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:28:36   39   31318148  12:28:31  0:00:05  sell   545     h001      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:28:46   40   61175615  12:28:46    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:28:46   40   31318156  12:28:42  0:00:04  sell   545     h001      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:28:59   41   61175621  12:28:59    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:28:59   41   31318163  12:28:54  0:00:05  sell   545     h001      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:29:13   42   61175629  12:29:13    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:29:13   42   31318168  12:29:06  0:00:07  sell   545     h001      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:29:30   43   61175636  12:29:30    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:29:30   43   31318180  12:29:25  0:00:05  sell   545     h001      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:29:44   44   61175641  12:29:43    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:29:44   44   31318190  12:29:37  0:00:06  sell   545     h001      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:30:17   45   61175650  12:30:16    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:30:17   45   31318203  12:30:11  0:00:05  sell   545     h001      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:30:26   46   61175653  12:30:26    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:30:26   46   31318207  12:30:21  0:00:05  sell   545     h001      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:33:30   47   61175696  12:33:30    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:33:30   47   31318231  12:32:44  0:00:46  sell   545     h001      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:33:36   48   61175698  12:33:35    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:33:36   48   31318234  12:33:06  0:00:29  sell   545     h001      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:33:53   49   61175706  12:33:52    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:33:53   49   31318245  12:33:44  0:00:08  sell   545     h001      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:34:10   50   61175710  12:34:10    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:34:10   50   31318249  12:33:59  0:00:11  sell   545     h001      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:40:18   51   61175799  12:40:18    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:40:18   51   31318308  12:40:07  0:00:11  sell   545     h058      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:40:28   52   61175804  12:40:28    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:40:28   52   31318312  12:40:18  0:00:10  sell   545     h058      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:40:36   53   61175808  12:40:35    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:40:36   53   31318314  12:40:30  0:00:05  sell   545     h058      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:40:43   54   61175811  12:40:43    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:40:43   54   31318316  12:40:38  0:00:05  sell   545     h058      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:40:53   55   61175816  12:40:53    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:40:53   55   31318319  12:40:47  0:00:06  sell   545     h058      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:41:01   56   61175819  12:41:00    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:41:01   56   31318320  12:40:55  0:00:05  sell   545     h058      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:41:13   57   61175826  12:41:13    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:41:13   57   31318321  12:41:03  0:00:10  sell   545     h058      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:41:21   58   80900526  12:41:20    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:41:21   58   31318324  12:41:13  0:00:07  sell   545     h058      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:41:26   59   61175832  12:41:26    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:41:26   59   31318326  12:41:22  0:00:04  sell   545     h058      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:41:37   60   61175839  12:41:37    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:41:37   60   31318328  12:41:30  0:00:07  sell   545     h058      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:41:50   61   61175846  12:41:50    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:41:50   61   31318330  12:41:45  0:00:05  sell   545     h058      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:42:02   62   61175849  12:42:02    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:42:02   62   31318332  12:41:57  0:00:05  sell   545     h058      10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:42:18   63   61175855  12:42:18    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  12:42:18   63   31318338  12:42:13  0:00:05  sell   545     h058      10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:19:58   64   61178133  15:18:51    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:19:58   64   31320443  15:19:58  0:01:07  sell   545     hulda     10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:20:28   65   61178141  15:19:10    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:20:28   65   31320451  15:20:28  0:01:18  sell   545     hulda     10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:21:18   66   61178145  15:19:21    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:21:18   66   31320471  15:21:17  0:01:56  sell   545     hulda     10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:21:31   67   61178148  15:19:26    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:21:31   67   31320474  15:21:30  0:02:04  sell   545     hulda     10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:21:43   68   61178151  15:19:37    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:21:43   68   31320479  15:21:43  0:02:06  sell   545     hulda     10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:21:52   69   61178157  15:19:42    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:21:52   69   31320483  15:21:52  0:02:10  sell   545     hulda     10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:22:01   70   61178161  15:19:50    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:22:01   70   31320484  15:22:00  0:02:10  sell   545     hulda     10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:22:08   71   61178164  15:19:55    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:22:08   71   31320486  15:22:08  0:02:13  sell   545     hulda     10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:22:16   72  180902547  15:20:05    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:22:16   72   31320488  15:22:15  0:02:10  sell   545     hulda     10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:22:24   73   61178170  15:20:13    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:22:24   73   31320494  15:22:23  0:02:10  sell   545     hulda     10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:22:34   74   61178197  15:21:07    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:22:34   74   31320498  15:22:33  0:01:26  sell   545     hulda     10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:22:41   75   61178198  15:21:12    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:22:41   75   31320501  15:22:41  0:01:29  sell   545     hulda     10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:22:49   76   61178204  15:21:17    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:22:49   76   31320503  15:22:49  0:01:32  sell   545     hulda     10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:22:56   77   61178207  15:21:24    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:22:56   77   31320509  15:22:56  0:01:32  sell   545     hulda     10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:23:04   78   61178209  15:21:28    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:23:04   78   31320514  15:23:03  0:01:35  sell   545     hulda     10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:23:11   79   61178214  15:21:40    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:23:11   79   31320515  15:23:11  0:01:31  sell   545     hulda     10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:23:18   80   61178216  15:21:46    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:23:18   80   31320517  15:23:17  0:01:31  sell   545     hulda     10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:23:25   81   61178219  15:21:51    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:23:25   81   31320524  15:23:24  0:01:33  sell   545     hulda     10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:23:35   82   61178222  15:21:55    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:23:35   82   31320526  15:23:35  0:01:40  sell   545     hulda     10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:23:43   83   61178225  15:22:01    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:23:43   83   31320532  15:23:43  0:01:42  sell   545     hulda     10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:23:52   84   61178231  15:22:08    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:23:52   84   31320534  15:23:52  0:01:44  sell   545     hulda     10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:24:00   85   61178233  15:22:15    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:24:00   85   31320535  15:23:59  0:01:44  sell   545     hulda     10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:24:07   86   61178234  15:22:27    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:24:07   86   31320537  15:24:06  0:01:39  sell   545     hulda     10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:24:14   87   61178240  15:22:32    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:24:14   87   31320540  15:24:13  0:01:41  sell   545     hulda     10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:24:20   88   61178242  15:22:36    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:24:20   88   31320543  15:24:20  0:01:44  sell   545     hulda     10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:24:33   89   61178243  15:22:41    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:24:33   89   31320547  15:24:32  0:01:51  sell   545     hulda     10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:24:39   90   61178245  15:22:49    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:24:39   90   31320549  15:24:39  0:01:50  sell   545     hulda     10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:24:46   91   61178249  15:22:57    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:24:46   91   31320551  15:24:46  0:01:49  sell   545     hulda     10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:24:53   92   61178272  15:23:53    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:24:53   92   31320554  15:24:52  0:00:59  sell   545     hulda     10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:25:01   93   61178276  15:24:01    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:25:01   93   31320558  15:25:01  0:01:00  sell   545     hulda     10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:25:08   94   61178282  15:24:09    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:25:08   94   31320562  15:25:08  0:00:59  sell   545     hulda     10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:25:17   95   61178284  15:24:15    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:25:17   95   31320566  15:25:17  0:01:02  sell   545     hulda     10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:25:25   96   61178310  15:25:25    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:25:25   96   31320569  15:25:24  0:00:01  sell   545     hulda     10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:25:35   97   61178316  15:25:33    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:25:35   97   31320576  15:25:34  0:00:01  sell   545     hulda     10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:25:47   98   61178324  15:25:37    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:25:47   98   31320585  15:25:47  0:00:10  sell   545     hulda     10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:25:55   99   61178326  15:25:42    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:25:55   99   31320588  15:25:55  0:00:13  sell   545     hulda     10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:26:05  100   61178328  15:25:54    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:26:05  100   31320591  15:26:05  0:00:11  sell   545     hulda     10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:26:14  101   61178330  15:25:59    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:26:14  101   31320595  15:26:14  0:00:15  sell   545     hulda     10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:26:26  102   61178340  15:26:22    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:26:26  102   31320600  15:26:26  0:00:04  sell   545     hulda     10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:27:02  103   61178362  15:27:01    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:27:02  103   31320603  15:26:38  0:00:23  sell   545     hulda     10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:27:07  104   61178367  15:27:07    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:27:07  104   31320611  15:26:58  0:00:09  sell   545     hulda     10000  335.00
27-02-01  15:27:31  105   61178378  15:27:31    ****    buy   35   rathyatrasa  5000   335.00
27-02-01  15:27:31  105   31320620  15:27:15  0:00:16  sell   545     Hulda     5000   335.00
   Total                                                                      2080000

 

Note : 545 - Biyani Securities Private Ltd 35 - Harish Biyani 
 

From the above , it is noted that the buy as well as the sell orders were placed in lots of 10,000 shares for the entire quantity (except for lot of 5000 shares on few occasions). It is noted that the buy and sell orders were placed in close proximity of time 5-15 seconds. In view of the fact that it was an ill-liquid segment and the buy and the sell orders were placed consecutively with a very short time difference which is often under few seconds, it can be said that these trades were sync hronized by the brokers with prior understanding to match. There was creation of artificial market and artificial volumes as a result of synchronization in logging in / matching of buy and sell orders.

4.11 As observed earlier, Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. sold as empanelled broker a total of 10.4 lakh shares of DSQ . Of these, 8.7 lakh shares were sold for Self and 1.7 lakh for Shri Harish Biyani. In connection with the sale of 8.7 lakh shares, examination of the demat statement Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. brought out that Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. and Shri Harish Biyani got shares in their demat account in the following manner:

———————————————————

  Date         Particulars                          Qty
---------------------------------------------------------
21/2/01    By CM Smifs, Physical / 2001146        155000
26/2/01    By Integrated / 10961302               300000
27/2/01    By CM Smifs, Physical / 2001146        325000
27/2/01    By CM Smifs, Rolling / 2001507          90000
---------------------------------------------------------
Total                                             870000
---------------------------------------------------------
 

From the above , it is observed that 3,00,000 shares were credited in off market transfer on 26/2/01 and the remaining were market purchases. Investigations brought out that the off market transfer of 3,00,000 shares was from the demat account of Square D Textiles – a DSQ group entity.

4.12 Statement on behalf of Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. admitted that Square D textiles was never its client and the shares were received from ‘Hulda’ who used to give specific instruction for subsequent sale of the shares. It does not explain why shares came into beneficiary account instead of the pool account. Regarding credits into its account from SMIFS, Biyani Securities (P) Ltd stated that it purchased 1,55,000 shares in sett no. 146 from market through SMIFS Securities. As regards credit on27/2/01 of 415000 shares, Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. stated that it purchased 90,000 shares from the market and the balance 3,25,000 shares were transferred to it from ‘Hulda’. These 8,70,000 shares were then credited to the account of SHCIL. This shows the nexus between Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. and Shri Harish Biyani and the promoters. To facilitate financing Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. and Shri Harish Biyani by the ‘sell n cash’ scheme, 3,00,000 shares were given to them by the promoter group entities Square D Textiles and 3,25,000 shares by ‘Hulda’. Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. and Shri Harish Biyani also had 2,55,000 shares already available. As regards sale of these 8.7 lakh shares in the ‘sell n cash’ scheme, Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. and Shri Harish Biyani stated that they sold the entire lot of 8,70,000 shares on behalf of another DSQ group entity – ‘Hulda’. If shares were sold on behalf of Hulda as claimed,, shares should come from the beneficiary account of Hulda and not from Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. and Shri Harish Biyani ‘s account.

4.13 As regards sale of 1.7 lakh shares by Shri Harish Biyani, it was found during the course of investigations that Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. and Shri Harish Biyani got shares in their demat account in the following manner:

———————————————————

Date Particulars Qty

———————————————————

21/2/01 By CM Smifs, Physical / 2001146 170000

———————————————————

Once again, it is seen that shares were credited as market purchases. Shri Harish Biyani stated that Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. and Shri Harish Biyani had purchased these shares from the market through SMIFS. The contentions by Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. and Shri Harish Biyani that they sold 1.7 lakh shares on behalf of DSQ group entity – Hulda is not tenable since if shares were to be sold on behalf of Hulda, shares would have been sold from the beneficiary account of Hulda and not from broker’s account.

On the other side, as buying broker, Shri Harish Biyani stated that Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. and Shri Harish Biyani had purchased 1,70,000 shares as part of total 10,40,000 shares purchased by them for various clients as below:

——————————————————–

Buying client                     Qty (number of shares)
--------------------------------------------------------
Ballona Dealcom                          32500
Behala finance and Investment            21000
Century Lefin Ltd                         1700
Kettlewell tracom P Ltd.                250000
Dynamic enterprises                      29600
Ganesh Barter Ltd                        26600
Rathyatra Sales                         428600
Gitabali Tracom                         250000
Total                                10,40,000
--------------------------------------------------------

 

4.14 It may be noted that many of the buying clients as above have same address as that of ‘ Hulda’ and also Mr Bhalotia as common director in Hulda and the buying clients. Hulda as brought out earlier is promoter associated entity. Thus , for the entire transactions of 10,40,000 shares, both the buying as well as the selling clients have linkages with each other and DSQ group.

These transactions were in the nature of synchronization with buying orders and selling orders matched for quantity and price. Orders were put within time gap of few seconds. Both buying and selling brokers were Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. and Shri Harish Biyani who indulged in creation of artificial market, creation of artificial volumes as a result of synchronization / prior intention to matching orders. In view of the fact that both brokers belong to Biyani group and the synchronization has happened over so many transactions, the stand taken by either broker is not tenable. Further, the transactions accounted for the entire trading volume i.e. 100% on that date.

4.15 On March 1, 2001, Shri Harish Biyani once again availed of the ‘Sell and Cash’ Scheme through Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. which sold 2,40,000 shares of DSQ Industries @ Rs 335 per share for Shri Harish Biyani. It is observed that when selling broker was Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd., the buying broker for the shares on the other side was Shri Harish Biyani. The order log and trade log revealed that there was synchronization of buying and selling orders as under: From the above, it can be seen that all orders both buy as well as sell were placed in multiples of 10,000 and apart from these orders there were no other buy as well as sale orders prevalent at that time and time lag between buy and sale order in most of the occasions was very less and it can be concluded that these were synchronized transactions with prior understanding to match.

——————————————————————————

Date               Time         Broker Code  Buy/Sale      Quantity     Price
mm/dd/yy

——————————————————————————

03-01-01        3:21:53 PM        D0035        B        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:22:09 PM        D0545        S        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:22:11 PM        D0035        B        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:22:16 PM        D0035        B        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:22:17 PM        D0545        S        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:22:26 PM        D0035        B        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:22:26 PM        D0545        S        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:22:32 PM        D0035        B        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:22:34 PM        D0545        S        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:22:37 PM        D0035        B        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:22:41 PM        D0545        S        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:22:42 PM        D0035        B        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:22:51 PM        D0035        B        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:22:56 PM        D0545        S        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:23:00 PM        D0035        B        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:23:03 PM        D0545        S        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:23:34 PM        D0545        S        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:23:55 PM        D0545        S        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:42:28 PM        D0035        B        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:42:34 PM        D0035        B        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:42:38 PM        D0035        B        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:42:43 PM        D0035        B        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:42:49 PM        D0035        B        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:42:54 PM        D0035        B        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:43:02 PM        D0035        B        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:43:04 PM        D0545        S        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:43:07 PM        D0035        B        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:43:12 PM        D0035        B        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:43:13 PM        D0545        S        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:43:22 PM        D0035        B        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:43:22 PM        D0545        S        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:43:29 PM        D0545        S        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:43:37 PM        D0545        S        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:43:41 PM        D0035        B        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:43:45 PM        D0545        S        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:43:46 PM        D0035        B        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:43:52 PM        D0545        S        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:43:54 PM        D0035        B        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:44:00 PM        D0545        S        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:44:02 PM        D0035        B        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:44:06 PM        D0035        B        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:44:07 PM        D0545        S        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:44:16 PM        D0545        S        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:44:23 PM        D0545        S        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:44:30 PM        D0545        S        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:44:37 PM        D0545        S        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:44:43 PM        D0545        S        10000        335.00
03-01-01        3:44:50 PM        D0545        S        10000        335.00

—————————————————————————-

4.16 Examination of the demat statement of Shri Harish Biyani brought out that on 1/3/01, 2,40,000 shares were debited from beneficiary account of Shri Harish Biyani in favour of SHC IL for the sale of 2,40,000 shares. It is pertinent to note that Shri Harish Biyani got shares in its demat account in the following manner:

———————————————————

Date Particulars Qty

———————————————————

21/2/01 By Integrated / 10961302 170000

——————————————————–

These shares were credited as off market purchases and were credited from the demat account of Hulda. Shri Harish Biyani stated that Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. and Shri Harish Biyani sold 2,40,000 shares on behalf of Hulda. If shares were to be sold on behalf of Hulda, shares would have been sold from the beneficiary account of Hulda and not from Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. and Shri Harish Biyani’s account. In effect, Shri Harish Biyani used shares of DSQ Industries for availing finance in the ‘sell and cash’ scheme of SHC IL by selling shares as empanelled broker of SHC IL – i.e. Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd.

4.17 Further, when Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. was selling shares, Shri Harish Biyani was the counter party broker. Shri Harish Biyani stated that Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. and Shri Harish Biyani had bought these 2,40,000 shares on behalf of client – Veersali Commodities Ltd. I further note that address of Veersali is same as that of Hulda and also one of the directors and contact person of this entity is Mr. Manoj Kumar Bhalotia who is also a director of M/s. Hulda Properties and Trades Limited – the seller. Therefore Veersali Commodities Limited also appears to be an entity of DSQ group. These further points to nexus between promoters and Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. and Shri Harish Biyani whe n it is noticed that shares bought by broker for promoter associated entity – Veersali were sold on the other side for another promoter associated entities – Hulda. Thus, there was circular trading also as well as creation of artificial market. Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. and Shri Harish Biyani indulged in creation of artificial market, creation of artificial volumes as a result of synchronization of orders. CSE had subsequently expunged the transaction of 2,40,000 shares amounting to Rs. 8.04 crore on the grounds that the transactions were non genuine transactions. It is pertinent to note this deal of 2,40,000 shares comprised around 60% of the total traded volume on the said date.

4.18 On March 2, 2001, Shri Harish Biyani once again availed the Cash on Pay out scheme (COP) of SHCIL through Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. which sold 7,20,000 shares of DSQ Industries for Shri Harish Biyani. The important feature of this scheme are as under:

a) As per the scheme an investor can sell his shares through one of the empanelled brokers of SHCIL and the payment is released to the investor on the next day of the pay out. For this purpose a post-dated cheque (dated to next day of pay out) is issued to the investor by SHCIL on the evening of trade day.

b) The features of this scheme are same as SAC and the only difference being that the payment is released one day after pay out. As per SCHIL, this was only a variant of the SAC scheme wherein a post dated payment cheque was issued instead of a current date cheque.

c) The objective of COP scheme was to help the small investors who are not entertained by the brokers to transact (sell their shares) in the capital market in the risk free environment. Under this scheme the payment is released one day after the pay out of the relevant stock exchange.

4.19 Shri Harish Biyani has a DP beneficiary account with SHCIL. On 1.3.2001, he requested SHCIL to sell 2.4 lakh shares of DSQ Industries Ltd under ‘sell-n-cash’ scheme. The shares were sold on the same day by SHCIL in rolling settlement No.2001518 of CSE through Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd., an associate firm of Shri Harish Biyani on whose behalf the trade was executed. SHCIL made payment against this transaction to Shri Biyani on the same day after deducting brokerage and service charges from the sale proceeds of Rs.8.04 crore. SHCIL also executed another transaction for sale of 7.2 lakh shares of DSQ Industries under ‘sell-n-cash’ scheme on behalf of Shri Biyani through Biyani Securities Pvt Ltd in settlement no.2001159 for Rs.24.48 crore on 2.3.2001. Unlike the earlier transaction, SHCIL released the payment through a post dated cheque to Shri Biyani who discounted the cheque with Indus Ind Bank, Calcutta and received the sale proceeds.

4.20 In the transactions of sale of DSQ Industries shares dated 1.3.01 financed by SHCIL on behalf of its clients Shri Harish Biyani under ‘sell-n-cash’ scheme through Biyani Securities Pvt Ltd and CSE, the counter party broker was Shri Harish Biyani himself. In the transaction dated 2.3.2001, assured / facilitated by SHCIL for Shri Harish Biyani the counter party brokers were Shri Harish Biyani, Arihant Exim & Doe Jones, CSE, on scrutiny of pay-in/pay-out of settlement no.148 and the rolling settlements falling due during the same time, classified the trades financed / assured by SHCIL through Biyani Securities Pvt Ltd as trades in the nature of accommodation and expunged these trades.

4.21 Shri Harish Biyani stated that since he was in need of funds he sold DSQ shares to SHCIL and received a post dated cheque from them and got the cheque discounted. He further said that SHCIL in turn sold those shares in the market on the same day through Biyani Securities Pvt Ltd but CSE did not make payment since the deals were expunged.

4.22 As stated, earlier, on 2/3/01, Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. sold 7,20,000 shares in the ‘cash on payout’ scheme of SHCIL . The table showing the various trading parties for the transaction is as follows:

———————————————————————————

Sale Quantity    Selling   Selling    Price    Amount (Rs.)  Buying      Quantity
                 Broker    Client                            Broker

———————————————————————————

720000            BSPL      HB        340      244800000      HB          220000
                                                            Doe Jones     250000
                                                          Arihant Exim    250000
7,20,000                                       244800000                  720000

———————————————————————————

It is observed that there was synchronization of buying and selling orders by matching of order quantity, times and price. The details are as under:

 Date      Trade     Trd  Order no   Order      Diff-sec  B/S  Code  Client  Qty    Rate
          time      No              time
02-03-01  15:13:06  145  151168469  15:11:21      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:13:06  145  180916834  15:13:05  0:01:44   buy    978  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:13:14  146  151168473  15:11:34      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:13:14  146  180916836  15:13:14  0:01:40   buy    978  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:13:22  147  151168475  15:11:45      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:13:22  147  180916839  15:13:22  0:01:37   buy    978  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:13:33  148  151168480  15:11:54      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:13:33  148  180916846  15:13:33  0:01:39   buy    978  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:13:40  149  151168488  15:12:02      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:13:40  149  180916849  15:13:40  0:01:38   buy    978  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:13:47  150  151168491  15:12:10      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:13:47  150  180916851  15:13:46  0:01:36   buy    978  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:14:04  151  151168495  15:12:19      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:14:04  151  180916856  15:14:04  0:01:45   buy    978  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:14:09  152  151168499  15:12:28      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:14:09  152  180916859  15:14:09  0:01:41   buy    978  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:14:16  153  151168501  15:12:37      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:14:16  153  180916861  15:14:16  0:01:39   buy    978  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:14:22  154  151168503  15:12:45      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:14:22  154  180916865  15:14:22  0:01:37   buy    978  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:14:35  155  151168510  15:13:17      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:14:35  155  180916869  15:14:35  0:01:18   buy    978  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:14:42  156  151168514  15:13:25      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:14:42  156  180916872  15:14:42  0:01:17   buy    978  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:14:48  157  151168518  15:13:33      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:14:48  157  180916873  15:14:47  0:01:14   buy    978  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:14:51  158  151168521  15:13:40      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:14:51  158  180916874  15:14:51  0:01:11   buy    987  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:14:56  159  151168523  15:13:47      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:14:56  160  151168525  15:13:54      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:14:56  159  180916879  15:14:56      ***   buy    978  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:14:56  160  180916880  15:14:56      ***   buy    987  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:15:00  161  151168528  15:14:01      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:15:00  162  151168532  15:14:08      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:15:00  162  180916885  15:15:00  0:00:52   buy    978  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:15:00  161  180916883  15:14:59      ***   buy    987  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:15:04  163  151168533  15:14:15      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:15:04  163  180916886  15:15:03  0:00:48   buy    987  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:15:07  164  151168535  15:14:22      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:15:07  164  180916887  15:15:07  0:00:45   buy    987  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:15:09  165  151168537  15:14:29      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:15:09  165  180916889  15:15:09  0:00:40   buy    978  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:15:14  166  151168543  15:14:39      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:15:14  166  180916890  15:15:14  0:00:35   buy    978  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:15:15  167  151168548  15:14:46      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:15:15  167  180916891  15:15:14  0:00:28   buy    987  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:15:18  168  151168554  15:14:55      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:15:18  168  180916892  15:15:17  0:00:22   buy    987  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:15:20  169  151168557  15:15:03      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:15:20  169  180916893  15:15:19  0:00:16   buy    978  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:15:21  170  151168561  15:15:09      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:15:21  170  180916894  15:15:21  0:00:12   buy    987  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:15:25  171  151168565  15:15:16      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:15:25  171  180916896  15:15:25  0:00:09   buy    978  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:15:26  172  151168567  15:15:23      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:15:26  172  180916897  15:15:25  0:00:02   buy    987  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:15:41  173  151168572  15:15:31      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:15:41  173  180916903  15:15:41  0:00:10   buy    987  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:15:45  174  151168576  15:15:37      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:15:45  174  180916905  15:15:45  0:00:08   buy    978  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:16:08  175  151168587  15:15:46      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:16:08  175  180916914  15:16:08  0:00:22   buy    978  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:16:13  176  151168595  15:15:53      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:16:13  176  180916915  15:16:13  0:00:20   buy    978  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:16:20  177  151168598  15:16:00      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:16:20  177  180916916  15:16:20  0:00:20   buy    987  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:16:23  178  151168603  15:16:09      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:16:23  179  151168608  15:16:16      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:16:23  178  180916917  15:16:23      ***   buy    978  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:16:23  179  180916918  15:16:23      ***   buy    987  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:16:26  180  151168614  15:16:23      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:16:26  180  180916921  15:16:26  0:00:03   buy    987  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:16:31  181  151168616  15:16:30      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:16:31  181  180916922  15:16:29  0:00:01   buy    978  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:16:49  182  151168619  15:16:38      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:16:49  182  180916924  15:16:48  0:00:10   buy    987  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:16:50  183  151168623  15:16:44      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:16:50  183  180916926  15:16:50  0:00:06   buy    978  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:16:53  184  151168632  15:16:51      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:16:53  184  180916927  15:16:52  0:00:01   buy    987  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:17:02  185  151168635  15:16:58      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:17:02  185  180916930  15:17:02  0:00:04   buy    987  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:17:10  186  151168640  15:17:05      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:17:10  186  180916933  15:17:10  0:00:05   buy    987  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:17:18  187  151168649  15:17:13      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:17:18  187  180916937  15:17:18  0:00:05   buy    987  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:17:22  188  151168654  15:17:19      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:17:22  188  180916939  15:17:22  0:00:03   buy    987  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:17:30  189  151168659  15:17:25      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:17:30  189  180916946  15:17:29  0:00:04   buy    987  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:17:36  190  151168664  15:17:32      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:17:36  190  180916948  15:17:36  0:00:04   buy    987  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:17:43  191  151168666  15:17:39      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:17:43  191  180916954  15:17:43  0:00:04   buy    987  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:17:48  192  151168669  15:17:45      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:17:48  192  180916956  15:17:48  0:00:03   buy    987  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:17:56  193  151168671  15:17:52      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:17:56  193  180916960  15:17:56  0:00:04   buy    987  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:18:01  194  151168674  15:17:59      ***   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:18:01  194  180916961  15:18:01  0:00:02   buy    987  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:18:21  195  61197636   15:18:20      ***   buy     35  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:18:21  195  151168684  15:18:10  0:00:10   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:18:27  196  61197640   15:18:27      ***   buy     35  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:18:27  196  151168688  15:18:18  0:00:09   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:18:40  197  61197648   15:18:40      ***   buy     35  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:18:40  197  151168692  15:18:26  0:00:14   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:19:38  198  120952423  15:19:38      ***   buy     35  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:19:38  198  151168696  15:18:34  0:01:04   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:19:43  199  61197683   15:19:42      ***   buy     35  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:19:43  199  151168724  15:19:40  0:00:02   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:19:47  200  61197687   15:19:47      ***   buy     35  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:19:47  200  151168727  15:19:47  0:00:00   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:19:55  201  61197695   15:19:55      ***   buy     35  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:19:55  201  151168733  15:19:53  0:00:02   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:20:08  202  61197706   15:20:08      ***   buy     35  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:20:08  202  151168739  15:20:02  0:00:06   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:20:13  203  61197710   15:20:13      ***   buy     35  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:20:13  203  151168741  15:20:09  0:00:04   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:20:18  204  61197714   15:20:18      ***   buy     35  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:20:18  204  151168746  15:20:17  0:00:01   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:20:35  205  61197725   15:20:35      ***   buy     35  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:20:35  205  151168751  15:20:29  0:00:06   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:20:41  206  61197728   15:20:41      ***   buy     35  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:20:41  206  151168757  15:20:38  0:00:03   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:20:47  207  61197730   15:20:47      ***   buy     35  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:20:47  207  151168764  15:20:45  0:00:02   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:20:59  208  61197740   15:20:58      ***   buy     35  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:20:59  208  151168770  15:20:52  0:00:06   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:21:08  209  61197745   15:21:08      ***   buy     35  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:21:08  209  151168776  15:21:00  0:00:08   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:21:27  210  61197756   15:21:27      ***   buy     35  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:21:27  210  151168784  15:21:21  0:00:06   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:21:33  211  61197759   15:21:33      ***   buy     35  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:21:33  211  151168785  15:21:29  0:00:04   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:21:50  212  61197766   15:21:50      ***   buy     35  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:21:50  212  151168788  15:21:36  0:00:14   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:21:56  213  61197767   15:21:55      ***   buy     35  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:21:56  213  151168792  15:21:42  0:00:13   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:22:01  214  61197768   15:22:01      ***   buy     35  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:22:01  214  151168794  15:21:52  0:00:09   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:22:09  215  61197771   15:22:09      ***   buy     35  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:22:09  215  151168796  15:21:59  0:00:10   sell   545  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:22:21  216  61197777   15:22:20      ***   buy     35  self   10000  340.00
02-03-01  15:22:21  216  151168800  15:22:13  0:00:07   sell   545  self   10000  340.00

 

It was also seen that when Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. sold 7,20,000 shares, on the buying side, it was Shri Harish Biyani who purchased 2,20,000 shares. The balance 5,00,000 shares were purchased by 2 brokers belonging to the D K Singhania group. It was later brought out that the CSE had expunged the entire transactions of 7,20,000 shares on the ground that they were non genuine transactions.

4.23 Shri Harish Biyani stated that it bought these shares for client – Kettlewell Tracom. It is pertinent to note that address of Kettelwell is same as that of ‘Hulda’ and also one of the directors and contact person of this entity is Mr. Manoj Kumar Bhalotia who is also a director of M/s. Hulda Properties and Trades Limited. Therefore, Kettelwell Commodities Limited also is an entity of DSQ group. The transactions done by Biyani group of brokers in the ‘sell n cash’ scheme of SCHIL on 27/2/01 and 1/3/01 and ‘cash on payout’ scheme on 2/3/01 in the shares of DSQ Industries is strong pointer to the promoter broker nexus between DSQ Group and Biyani group of brokers. Promoters colluded with Biyani group in obtaining finance on account of Biyani brokers facing payment crises on the CSE. As discussed in detail later, funds to the tune of approximately Rs. 34 crore and Rs. 8 crore were availed on 27/2/01 and 1/3/01 in the ‘sell n cash’ scheme of SHCIL . Thus, funds were made available on the same date as the transaction date. Thereafter, funds to the extent of around Rs. 24 crore was availed for cash on payout transactions done on 2/3/01. This amount was made available on 5/3/01 by discounting a post dated cheque given by SHC IL.

4.24 In view of the foregoing, it can be concluded that Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. and Shri Harish Biyani had acted in concert with the promoters and its associate entities – Hulda, Square D Textiles which credited shares of DSQ Industries to the demat account of Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. and Shri Harish Biyani. Shares of promoter entities were also credited through SMIFS Securities Ltd. Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. and Shri Harish Biyani then used these shares in addition to other shares lying with it to avail of the schemes of SHCIL to obtain immediate sale consideration in the sell n cash scheme of SHC IL as discussed above. Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. was empanelled broker of SHCIL for selling the shares in the said schemes. Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. availed finance for self as well as for Shri Harish Biyani for selling these shares in the schemes. The buying broker was Shri Harish Biyani who was buying shares for DSQ group entities. Shares were brought in synchronised deals with buying and selling orders logged in at almost the same time for same rate and quantity with prior understanding to match sell orders with specific buy orders. Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. and Shri Harish Biyani indulged in creation of artificial market, creation of artificial volumes as a result of synchronization / prior intention to matching orders. There was creation of artificial market and artificial volumes as a result of synchronization in logging in / matching of buy and sell orders. Orders are placed within a gap of few seconds by Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. and Shri Harish Biyani for the same quantity and same rate to ensure that buyers get the desired sellers and vice versa. Shares effectively did not change beneficial ownership by remaining within the DSQ group. Thus, there was circular trading also. The transactions also created artificial market.

4.25 I also note that when Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. sold 7,20,000 shares, on the buying side, Harish Biyani purchased 2,20,000 shares. The balance 5,00,000 shares were purchased by the Arihant Exim Scrip Pvt. Ltd. and Doe Jones Investments & Consultants Pvt. Ltd. who were brokers at the relevant time and belonged to the D K Singhania group (2,50,000 shares each).

4.26 In appeal no 54 of 2002 – Nirmal Bang Securities Pvt. Ltd v. SEBI, the Hon’ble Securities Appellate Tribunal has held as under with regard to synchronized deals
“BEB has been charged for synchronized deals with First Global. I have examined the data provided by the parties on this issue. I find many transactions between BEB and FGSB. There are many instances of such transactions. I find the scrip, quantity and price for these orders had been synchronized by the counter party brokers. Such transactions undoubtedly create an artificial market to mislead the genuine investors. Synchronized trading is violative of all prudential and transparent norms of trading in securities. Synchronized trading on a large scale can create false volumes. The argument that the parties had no means of knowing whether any entity controlled by the client is simultaneously entering any contra order elsewhere for the reason that in the online trading system, confidentiality of counter parties is ensured, is untenable. It was submitted by the Appellants that it was not possible for the broker to know who the counter party broker is and that trades were not synchronized but it was only a coincidence in some cases. Theoretically this is OK. But when parties decide to synchronize the transaction the story is different. There are many transactions giving an impression that these were all synchronized, otherwise there was no possibility of such perfect matching of quantity price etc. As the Respondent rightly stated it is too much of a coincidence over too long a period in too many transactions when both parties to the transaction had entered buy and sell orders for the same quantity of shares almost simultaneously.”

Such transactions wherein the buy and sell orders were entered almost simultaneously and the time lag is just under few seconds as aforesaid and the transactions are matched in terms of order quantity, price and time are highly irregular and defeat the purpose of normal order matching system in the price discovery process in the exchanges and would also be in violation of Regulation of 4 of SEBI (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices relating to Securities Market) 1995 which reads as under:-

Prohibition against market manipulation. 4 No persons shall

(a) effect, take part in, or enter into, either directly or indirectly, transactions in securities, with the intention of artificially raising or depressing the prices of securities and thereby inducing the sale or purchase of securities by any person;

(b) indulge in any act, which is calculated to create a false or misleading appearance of trading on the securities markets;

(c) indulge in any act, which results in reflection of prices of securities based on transactions that are not genuine trade transactions;

(d) enter into a purchase or sale of any securities, not intended to effect transfer of beneficial ownership but intended to operate only as a device to inflate, depress, or cause fluctuation in the market price of securities;

4.27 As already noted above, when Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. sold 7.2 lac shares of DSQ Industries, Shri Harish Biyani purchased 2.2 lac shares and the rest were purchased by Arihant Exim Scrip Pvt. Ltd. and Doe Jones Investments & Consultants Pvt. Ltd. It is therefore, concluded that the brokers viz. Shri Harish Biyani and Biyani Securities Pvt Ltd acted in concert with the promoters of DSQ Group for creation of artificial market and rise in prices by entering into irregular transactions by way of synchronized trades and cross deals in which the order, quantity, time and prices are matched, financing of trades through the schemes of SHCIL, etc. as discussed above

Acting in concert is something about which actual evidence is normally difficult to come. The Supreme Court had dealt with the issue in the case of CIT v. East Coast Commercial Co. Ltd. AIR (1967) SC 768 (Kedia Family case) in the context of Section 23A of the Indian Income Tax Act, 1922 wherein the question was whether Kedia family had acted in concert to control the affairs of the concerned company. In the facts of that case, there was no evidence of any overt act showing that they were acting in concert and thereby constituted and acted as a block.

In para 14 of the judgement, the SC observed as follows:

“….. It is sufficient, if having regard to their relation, etc., their conduct and their common interest, that it may be inferred that they must be acting together, evidence of actual concerted acting is normally difficult to obtain, and is not insisted upon.” (p.772)

Hence, it is clear from the above that Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. and Shri Harish Biyani had together indulged in creation of artificial market, artificial price rise, giving misleading appearance of trades and hence have violated Regulation 4 of SEBI (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices relating to Securities Market) Regulations, 1995 as aforesaid.

4.28 The method and manner of execution of these transactions whereby the order price, quantity and time are matched was highly irregular and against the normal price discovery mechanism in Stock Exchanges. It was contended that Biyani Securities Pvt Ltd and Harish Biyani are separate and distinct entities. While the former is a company registered under the Companies Act, 1956, the latter is an individual broking firm. As such, it was contended that both of them cannot be clubbed together for the aforesaid show cause notice for irregular transactions.

4.29 The JPC Report dated 19.12.2002 on stock market scam at para 6.21 observed that a number of large brokers have more than one card in CSE which are either in the name of their family members or companies where they are major shareholders. Shri Harish Biyani and Biyani Securities Pvt Ltd are amongst such brokers.

4.30 The net outstanding position of Shri Harish Biyani and Biyani Securities Pvt Ltd to the CSE where they were declared defaulters by the Exchange are as under :

(Rs. In crores)

—————————————————————————

Sr.   Name of the Defaulter       Net Oustanding               Total Net
No.                                                           outstanding

—————————————————————————

                              Settl       Sett    Settl.
                              No.148     No.149  No.150
1. Shri Harish Biyani         20.08       2.49    3.14           25.71
2. Biyani Securities Pvt Ltd   0.79       3.06    3.16            7.01

————————————————————————–

Both Shri Harish Biyani and Biyani Securities Pvt Ltd were declared defaulters on 26.3.2001 by the CSE. One of the reasons for the payment problem at CSE was building up of large outstanding positions by few brokers in few scrips mainly in HFCL and DSQ and volatility in the prices during the relevant period.

In this context, the Hon’ble Supreme Court decision in Delhi Development Authority v. Skipper Construction Co. Pvt Ltd. (1996) 4 Comp LJ 233 (SC) … AIR 1996 SC 2005 that (para 27 at page 247 of COMP LJ ) may be referred to.

“The concept of corporate entity was evolved to encourage and promote trade and commerce but not to commit illegalities or to defraud people. Where , therefore, the corporate character is employed for the purpose of committing illegality or defrauding others , the court would ignore the corporate character and wi ll look at the reality behind the corporate veil so as to enable it to pass appropriate orders to do justice between the parties concerned. The fact that an individual and members of his family have created several corporate bodies would not prevent the court from treating all of them as one entity belonging to and controlled by that individual and family. If it is found that these corporate bodies are merely cloaks behind which lurks the individual and /or members of his family and that the device of incorporation was really a ploy adopted for committing illegalities and /or to defraud people” (underlining supplied).

Acting in concert is something about which actual evidence is normally difficult to come. The Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of CIT v. East Coast Commercial Co.Ltd. AIR (1967) SC 768 (Kedia Family case) in the context of Section 23A of the Indian Income Tax Act, 1922 wherein the question was whether Kedia family had acted in concert to control the affairs of the concerned company. In the facts of that case, there was no evidence of any overt act showing that they were acting in concert and thereby constituted and acted as a block. In para 14 of the judgment, the SC observed as follows:

“….. if the members of the Kedia family form a block and had more than 75 per cent of the voting power, it was not necessary to prove that they actually exercised controlling interest. It is the holding in aggregate of a majority of the shares issued by a person or persons acting in concert in relation to the affairs of the company which establishes the existence of a block. It is sufficient, if having regard to their relation, etc., their conduct and their common interest, that it may be inferred that they must be acting together, evidence of actual concerted acting is normally difficult to obtain, and is not insisted upon.” (p.772)(italics added).

4.31 The evidence of connected circumstances and preponderance of probabilities, common course of natural events and combination of facts creating network and artificial volumes gives rise to a reasonable inference that Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. and Shri Harish Biyani did not act in good faith and without negligence when they had executed these transactions.

The standard of proof required in a proceeding of this nature is at variance with the standard of proof required in criminal cases. It is sufficient if the preponderance of probabilities suggests towards the indulgence of the delinquent in the misconduct. The strict rules of Evidence Act and proof beyond reasonable doubt are not applicable to a proceeding of this nature. The Supreme Court’s decision in Gulabchand v. Kudilal AIR 1966 SC 1734 and the decision of the Special Court for trial of offences relating to transactions in securities in the matter of National Housing Bank v. ANZ Grindlays Bank, 1998 (2 ) LJ 153 is relied upon in this regard.

5. ORDER

Now, therefore, having regard to the nature and gravity of the charges established against Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. and Shri Harish Biyani, I hereby, in exercise of powers under Section 11(4), 11B of SEBI Act, 1992, and Regulation 11 of the SEBI (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices Relating to Securities Market) Regulations, 2003, prohibit Biyani Securities Pvt. Ltd. and its directors and Shri Harish Biyani from buying, selling or dealing in the securities market for a period of 5 years.

This order shall come into force with immediate effect.