New Delhi, Market regulator Sebi on Tuesday barred 10 entities, including Darjeeling Industriies Ltd‘s Managing Director Ashok Dilipkumar Jain, from trading in the company’s securities over alleged manipulative activities involving misleading corporate disclosures and diversion of issue proceeds.
The interim ex-parte order was passed amid concerns that the noticees could offload shares allotted through a preferential issue after the lock-in period expired, potentially making wrongful gains.
According to the regulator, a site inspection at Darjeeling Industriies’ registered office in Girgaon, Mumbai, disclosed that the company did not exist at the premises, which had been occupied by another firm since July 2024.
Sebi, in its 62-page order, said this prima facie indicated that board meetings and corporate announcements purportedly made from the address were “not true” and “appear to have been fabricated to deceive investors to invest in securities of DIL”.
The regulator further noted that its inspection team visited the registered office on June 24, 2026, but did not find the company operating there. On the same day, however, DIL informed the BSE that its board had met to consider the receipt of funds against warrants issued by the company.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) observed that soon after Jain joined the company as a director in October 2024, DIL reported a sharp rise in revenue and profits compared with previous financial years, approved a preferential allotment of warrants to his connected entities, and received funding primarily from him and those entities.
The order also noted that funds raised for the company’s stated growth objectives were transferred to entities whose businesses had no apparent connection with DIL’s operations or the stated purpose of the issue, with some of those entities allegedly linked to Jain.
Further, Sebi noted that despite DIL reporting zero operating revenue during FY23 and FY24, the company’s share price and trading volumes increased substantially after Jain became managing director.
The regulator said the company was not found at either of its registered addresses in Mumbai or Rajkot, repeatedly made positive announcements from a non-existent address and claimed to diversify into unrelated, capital-intensive businesses even though its subsidiary was also not found at the disclosed address.
Sebi also expressed concern over the imminent expiry of the lock-in period on shares allotted to Jain and his connected entities through the preferential issue.
The order estimated that the shares allotted under the preferential issue accounted for 66.26 per cent of the allotment. Based on prevailing market prices, the regulator estimated the possible realisable value of those holdings at around Rs 29.05 crore, while clarifying that this was “not wrongful gains which have been realised” but “the likely amount of wrongful gains which may accrue… if no action is taken”.
Accordingly, Sebi restrained noticees “from buying, selling or dealing in securities of the company… either directly or indirectly, in any manner whatsoever, until further orders”.
Besides restraining the noticees from trading in DIL securities, Sebi directed them to cooperate with its ongoing investigation. The regulator said a detailed investigation would continue into the alleged violations and other suspects.
Apart from Ashok Dilipkumar Jain, other barred persons include Dilip Keshrimal Sanklecha, Viha Ashok Jain, Sonali Abhaykumar Parmar, Abhishek Prakash Jain, Kirti Ravi Kothari, Kalidas Vijay Magar, Pradeep Sutodiya, Joy Banerjee and Punyah Sachin Jain.
