Bombay Dyeing to move SAT against Sebi ruling in 2-yr market ban case

Bombay Dyeing & Manufacturing Company Ltd on Saturday said it will move to the Securities Appellate Tribunal against the Sebi's ruling that barred the company, its promoters from the securities markets for up to two years.

Sebi, in its order, barred 10 entities, including Bombay Dyeing and its promoters -- Nusli N Wadia, Ness Wadia and Jehangir Wadia-- from the securities markets for up to two years and levied a fine totalling Rs 15.75 crore on them for involving in fraudulent scheme of misrepresenting the company's financial statements.

Others banned and penalised by Sebi are -- Scal Services Ltd, a Wadia Group company, its then directors -- D S Gagrat, N H Datanwala Shailesh Karnik, R Chandrasekharan -- and Durgesh Mehta, who was Joint Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer of Bombay Dyeing.

In a statement, a Bombay Dyeing spokesperson said that the company will be exercising its statutory right to appeal this order and believes it would get justice and stand vindicated.

The company said it is in receipt of Sebi's order making remarks about finalised accounts dating back to a decade ago. In essence, the regulator has sought to interpret accounting standards and the depiction of validly prepared, approved and properly presented unqualified accounts between F.Y. 2011-12 and F.Y. 2018-19.

"The accounts in question had been presented by the management, reviewed by the audit committee and opined on by the statutory auditors," the spokesperson said.

The company is quite firm in its view that all transactions were entirely legitimate and in compliance with law. They did not, and could not have, by any reasonable interpretation or extrapolation violated Sebi rules, the spokesperson added.

It is noteworthy that Sebi has categorically noted that no benefits were made by the promoters and there is no diversion of funds, and yet, has issued a far-reaching set of directions.

In its order passed on Friday, Sebi noted that Wadias have played an active as well as a deliberate passive role, in the perpetration of the scheme of deliberate misrepresentation of financial statements of Bombay Dyeing.