TMC-led Oppn MPs group seeks probe on result-day crash, meet Sebi officials

A delegation of Opposition leaders, led by TMC MPs, on Tuesday met senior officials of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and demanded an investigation into alleged “manipulation” of the stock market on the back of exit polls.

Most exit polls gave the ruling BJP a clean sweep in general elections. But the saffron party’s juggernaut stopped short of the half mark of 272. While the Opposition cherished the results, comments made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah caught their attention.

Before the exit poll results, both the leaders reportedly suggested buying stocks before June 4, when the final results were to be announced, claiming it will hit new highs.  

And when the markets crashed following the poor showing of BJP, several Opposition leaders including Rahul Gandhi alleged a scam. And demanded a probe by the markets regulator.

Among those who went to Sebi’s office in Mumbai on Tuesday were All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs Kalyan Banerjee, Sagarika Ghose and Saket Gokhale. Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) MP Arvind Sawant and the Nationalist Congress Party-Sharad Pawar representatives Vidya Chavan and Nirmala Samant too joined the delegation.

The MPs, however, could not meet Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch who was not in the office. Instead they met three senior officials, including Sebi whole-time member Ashwani Bhatia.

“Sebi had (played) a glorious role in the past. We have confidence in Sebi and that is the reason why we have come seeking investigation in respect of the matter of manipulation of the stock market on the back of misleading exit polls,” said TMC’s Kalyan Banerjee.

After the meeting, Banerjee said that though they did not get any assurance from Sebi, the officials said that they will look into the matter. The MP said that they want a probe into any possible connection between exit poll agencies and political leaders.

He alleged that political families made “huge profits” due to the exceptional rise of markets on the day of exit poll, following which the benchmark indices tanked over 6 per cent on June 4, the actual result day.

The bloc reiterated that they wanted the probe to instil confidence and to ensure that such “share scams” do not happen in future if exit polls continue.

Earlier, Gandhi had demanded a joint-parliamentary committee in the matter.

A petition has also been filed in the Supreme Court, seeking a direction to the market regulator to give a report on the result-day crash and the loss to investors.

A source said that the market regulator would provide data to the SC, specifically on the profits made by retail investors, if it is sought by the apex court.

According to data provided by the National Stock Exchange, it clocked volumes of a record Rs 2.71 trillion in the cash market segment on June 4.

Data provided by the NSE shows that retail investors were net buyers on the verdict day to the tune of Rs 21,179 crore, while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) net sold shares worth Rs 12,511 crore.

It essentially means that individual investors were able to take advantage of the market crash to buy more, while the election uncertainty promoted overseas funds to pull out money. Further, when the markets had shot up 3 per cent reacting to the exit polls, retail investors pulled out Rs 8,588 crore, which indicates profit-booking.