On Wednesday, The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) imposed a penalty of ₹ 3 lakh on actress Shilpa Shetty Kundra, her husband Raj Kundra and their company Viaan Industries for violation of its Insider Trading rules.
SEBI’s Order and Fine Imposition on The Couple
As per the SEBI order, the fine has been imposed on Kundra, Shetty and their company for a delay of three-year in the mandatory disclosure to stock exchanges. The market regulator said the penalty has to be paid jointly and severally by Kundra and Shetty, who are the key promoters of Viaan Industries.
SEBI released an order statement that read-
“Securities and Exchange Board of India had conducted an investigation into the trading/dealings in the scrip of Viaan Industries Limited (formerly known as Hindustan Safety Glass Industries Limited), during the period September 01, 2013, to December 23, 2015.”
Further adding the statement read-
“ Pursuant to the investigations, it was observed that Raj Kundra, Shilpa Shetty Kundra and Viaan Industries Ltd had allegedly violated the provisions of Regulations 7(2)(a) and 7(2)(b) of SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015”.
Also Read: Raj Kundra Case: Shilpa Shetty Interrogated for 6 Hours, Kundra’s Police Custody Extended
The SEBI order mentioned that in 2015, Viaan Industries made a preferential allotment of 5 lakh equity shares to four persons and in the said preferential allotment, the company allotted 128,800 equity shares each to its two key promoters Raj Kundra and Shilpa Shetty.
As per Regulation 7(2) (a) of SEBI’s Prohibition of Insider Trading Rules, 2015, promoters of the company are required to disclose their transaction to the company within two days, if the amount exceeded ₹ 10 lakh, in terms of which the company has to relay the disclosure to the stock exchanges within two trading days.
Final Disclosures of the Transactions
SEBI said the transactions summed up for the couple’s shares equalled to a value of ₹ 2.57 crore each; however, the final disclosures were made in May 2019 for the 2015 transaction. The market regulator further ordered the Notices, Kundra, Shetty and their company, to pay the penalty within 45 days of the receipt of the order.
Also Read: Raj Kundra under Police Custody till 23rd July, Detained In Pornographic Case
Brief About Kundra’s Case
Kundra was arrested by the police on July 19 along with 11 other people on charges related to the alleged creation of pornographic films. He has been named as the key accused by the Mumbai Police for this case.
He has been booked under charges like Sections 420 (cheating), 34 (common intention), 292, and 293 (related to obscene and indecent advertisements and displays) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) besides relevant sections of the IT Act and the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act.
Also Read: Raj Kundra Arrest: A Tip off, A Raid, Multiple Arrests – This is How Cops got to Kundra
Bombay High Court’s Action On the Case
On Monday, the Bombay High Court postponed the hearing on Kundra’s bail plea till Thursday. The court has not given any interim relief to the businessman. Kundra and his associate Ryan Thorpe have been sent to judicial custody for 14 days.
Shilpa Shetty Was Also Questioned
On Tuesday, Mumbai Crime Branch said that actress Shilpa Shetty has also not been given a free pass in the pornography racket case yet, as her husband and businessman Raj Kundra is the prime accused.
A Crime Branch team last Friday raided the Juhu bungalow owned by Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra as part of their investigation into the alleged porn production and distribution case involving the businessman. The search operation was conducted for six hours. During interrogation she talked about financial losses.
Also Read: Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and Nine Others Pay Rs 37 Crore to Settle Aptech Insider Trading Case
Shilpa Is Heart-broken Due to Raj and Talks About Family Reputation Getting Ruined
Actress Shilpa Shetty poured her eyes and heart down in tears when she saw Raj Kundra with police during raid at house and screamed at the top of her lungs that her husband was innocent. This was the first time her husband was brought home after his arrest by the Mumbai police.
Shilpa said that-
“We have everything, what was the need to do all this, family’s reputation is ruined, the endorsements in the industry were being cancelled and that I had to give up many projects”.
According to officials forensic auditors have been appointed to investigate the transactions in all the accounts of the people involved in the case. Especially Shilpa and Raj’s account are under prime surveillance.
