Sebi directs Dalmia to deposit Rs 122 cr in escrow a/c

Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) On Wednesday directed Dinesh Dalmia, chairman of DSQ Biotech (DSQBL), and another firm of his (DSQ Holdings) to deposit Rs 122 crore in an escrow account and to make an open offer to purchase the 8.3 million shares of DSQBL from the entrapped shareholders.

Sebi also barred him and his associates from dealing in the capital market for 10 years. After the open offer is made, the rest of the Rs 122 crore would have to be deposited in the investor protection fund and the shares would be cancelled.

The order was passed by wholetime member T C Nair in a case relating to irregular preferential allotment of DSQBL shares and price manipulation of the stock in the period between December 1999 and January 2001.

Other top management officials of the Dalmia group who were held responsible in the case included K Gopalkrishnan, M G Anant Kumar Ganpathy Subramanium, P S Bala Subramanium and Vasudev Subanthore. Earlier, investigations were also conducted in the allotment of 1.70 crore shares of DSQ Software shares. It was also found that 1.30 crore shares of the company were introduced in the secondary market without listing and wrong information had been filed with the stock exchanges and the regulator.