Titan case: Sebi penalises 6 people for violating insider trading rules

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Tuesday slapped a penalty of Rs 1 lakh each on six individuals for violating insider trading norms in the Titan scrip. The fine was levied on Mekat George, Muniraj Radhakrishnan, Gangadhar Sudheer Kallihal, Punit Juneja, Jayraj P, and Arjun Ramji Vishwakarma.

In six separate orders, Sebi said these individuals were employees or designated persons of Titan at the time of the violation and had transacted in the scrip on two separate occasions in financial year 2018-19.

The total traded value of the shares by each of them was in excess Rs 10 lakh, which they failed to disclose to the company within two working days in accordance with the prevalent insider trading norms.

The notices argued that they were unaware about the Sebi Act, PIT regulations and the company’s code of conduct for prevention of insider trading, but Sebi rejected their claims. Sebi had received a letter from Titan, intimating the regulator about contravention of insider trading norms, which led to a subsequent investigation by the market regulator.