Today, SAT will hear Arshad Warsi’s appeal against SEBI ban

Today, the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) is scheduled to hear the case filed by Bollywood actor Arshad Warsi challenging a Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) order.

The order barred 45 entities, including Warsi and his wife Maria Goretti, from the securities market for allegedly manipulating the share price of Sadhna Broadcast.

Warsi, known for his roles in popular Bollywood movies such as Munna Bhai MBBS, Jolly LLB, Sehar and Golmaal will be represented by Regstreet Law Advisors at the SAT.

The legal advisory firm was founded by Sumit Agrawal, a former legal officer of SEBI.

The SEBI ban came after a probe found that certain entities uploaded misleading videos on YouTube channels, recommending investors to buy shares of Sadhna Broadcast Ltd and Sharpline Broadcast.

The market regulator has restrained the actor couple and some of the promoters of Sadhna Broadcast from the securities market for their alleged involvement in the price manipulation.

The videos claimed that the company would be acquired by the Adani Group, would have a 5G licence and would see an increase in profits as a result of the acquisition.

The videos contained advice that SEBI discovered to be untrue and deceptive.

Besides the ban, SEBI has impounded illegal gains of ₹54 crore made by the entities. Two separate interim orders have been passed to this effect.

In the case of Sadhna Broadcast, Warsi allegedly made a profit of ₹29.43 lakh, his wife earned a profit of ₹37.56 lakh, and Iqbal Hussain Warsi gained ₹9.34 lakh. These three, along with others, have been classified as volume creators by the regulator.

The SEBI investigation began after receiving complaints alleging that certain entities were engaging in price manipulation and offloading shares of Sadhna Broadcast Ltd and Sharpline Broadcast Ltd.