Raghav Bahl, 9 others settle case with Sebi; pay Rs 31 lakh

Raghav Bahl, his wife Ritu Kapur and eight other related entities have settled a case of alleged disclosure lapses with the markets regulator Sebi after paying over Rs 31 lakh towards settlement charges.

These entities include Vandana Malik, Subhash Bahl, Digital Content Pvt Ltd, RB Diversified (formerly known as RB Investments Pvt Ltd), RB Holdings Pvt Ltd, Network 18 Employees Welfare Trust, TV 18 Employees Welfare Trust and Network 18 Media and Investment Ltd.

According to a Sebi order dated August 30, the entities had acquired shares of Network 18 Media and Investment Ltd, following which their shareholding had increased beyond threshold limit of 2 per cent on separate instances in the year 2008, 2009 and 2012.

However, they had not made the disclosures for the acquisitions within the time specified under the SAST (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Regulations and the PIT (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations as well as under the shareholding pattern filed with the stock exchange under the Listing Agreement.

The entities had filed an application to settle the proposed adjudication proceedings by Sebi against all but Digital Content in June 2016, for delayed compliance of the norms.

Digital Content, "being a person acting in concert" with the remaining entities had also applied for settlement of the defaults.

The regulator's high powered advisory committee (HPAC) in its meeting held in May 2018 considered the settlement terms proposed and recommended the case for settlement upon payment of Rs 31.60 by the entities. The recommendations were also accepted by the panel of whole time members of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).

In June, the entities paid the settlement amount, following which the regulator settled the proceedings for the alleged default.

"... this order disposes of the said adjudication proceedings and the proceedings that may be initiated in respect of the applicants (10 entities) for the defaults...," the regulator said.

However, Sebi said if any representation made by the entities in the present settlement proceedings is "subsequently discovered to be untrue", the regulator can take enforcement actions against them.