Securities Appellate Tribunal
Ramnaresh Dashadeen Nirmal vs Securities and Exchange Board of India on 3 September 2026
BEFORE THE SECURITIES APPELLATE TRIBUNAL
MUMBAI
Date: 03.09.2026
Appeal No. 271 of 2026
And
Misc. Application No. 787 of 2026
And
Misc. Application No. 788 of 2026
Ramnaresh Dashadeen Nirmal
….. Appellant
Versus
Mr. Abhishek Venkatraman, Advocate i/b. Chaturvedi &
Thakar Advocates for the Appellant.
Respondent.
With
Appeal No. 275 of 2026
And
Misc. Application No. 771 of 2026
And
Misc. Application No. 772 of 2026
Arvind Shantilal Shah & Ors.
….. Appellants
Versus
Appellants.
Respondent.
With
Appeal No. 276 of 2026
And
Misc. Application No. 773 of 2026
And
Misc. Application No. 774 of 2026
Bhavin Arvind Shah
… Appellant
Versus
Appellant.
Respondent.
With
Appeal No. 277 of 2026
And
Misc. Application No. 777 of 2026
And
Misc. Application No. 778 of 2026
Yash Manish Mehta
… Appellant
Versus
Appellants.
Respondent.
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ORDER:
1. Urgency application has worked for itself. Accordingly, Misc. application Nos. 787 of 2026, 771 of 2026, 773 of 2026 and 777 of 2026 are disposed of.
2. Admit.
3. Respondent is allowed six weeks to file reply. Rejoinder is any, be filed within three weeks.
4. Mr. Kunal Katariya and Mr. Abhishek Venkatraman, learned advocates for the appellants prayed for stay of the impugned orders.
5. They submitted that the appellants in this group are called as “Darjeeling Group”. The total number of shares traded is about 1.10 Crore and the total number of trades are about 25,000. The alleged trades have taken place between April 2018 and December 2019. The investigation period is between 02.04.2018 and 27.12.2019. The show cause notice cum ex-parte interim order was issued on 19.06.2023. By the said interim order, appellants were not restrained from accessing the market. They submitted that the principal allegation against the appellants is that they have traded in the pre-SMS period and during SMS period. The SMS messages were circulated between 23.12.2019 and 27.12.2019. They contended that according to the SEBI, though the scheme was a ‘pump and dump’ scheme, the ‘pump’ side of the scheme was successful whereas the parties could not offload their shares in the ‘dump’ side due to the surveillance mechanism initiated by the stock exchange. They submitted that the appellants have been trading in the scrip since 2017 and they are not connected in any manner with Hanif Shekh who is alleged to be the kingpin.
6. They submitted that the appellants undertake to deposit the full penalty and disgorgement amounts and prayed that the impugned order may be stayed.
7. In reply, Ms. Prachi Pandya, learned advocate for the SEBI adverting to paragraph Nos. 532 and 533 of the impugned order submitted that the appellants herein contributed to about 35.9% and 32% of the total market ‘buy’ and ‘sell’ volumes respectively along with the Hanif Shekh entities. They have traded among themselves in 570 instances, out of which, in 178 instances, the time difference between ‘buy’ and ‘sell’ orders were less than 60 seconds and in 98 instances, the difference was less than 10 seconds.
8. She submitted that the appellants’ trades are also similar to the trades carried out by the Hanif Shekh Group. The appellants have contributed substantially in the scheme and may not entitled be permitted to access the market.
9. We have considered rival contentions and perused the records.
10. One of the main contentions urged by Mr. Kunal Katariya is that the total number of shares traded is of 1.10 Crore and the total number of trades are about 25,000. He further contended that appellants contribution in the entire Darjeeling Group is about 11 Lakh shares inter se traded among the group which works out to about 10.33%.
11. Admitted position is, the trading period was between April 2018 and December 2019. The ex-parte interim order was issued on 19.06.2023 and the final order has been passed on 30.06.2026. It is relevant to note that the appellants were not restrained at the stage of issuing the ex-parte interim order. It was argued by the learned advocate for the respondent that the percentage of trades, namely, 10.33% does not really matter because the inter se trades attract innocent investors and thereafter the quantum of trades increase.
12. We may record that the appeal is at the stage of admission. If appellants fail in their appeals, they can be debarred after disposal of appeals. Keeping in view the fact that the trades were of the year 2019 and appellants were not restrained till 2026, in our opinion, the balance of convenience is in favour of the appellants.
13. Accordingly, it is ordered that subject to deposit of full penalty amount and full disgorgement amount within four weeks from today, the impugned order shall remain stayed. The amounts deposited shall be kept in an interest bearing account by SEBI.
14. The stay application bearing Misc. Application Nos. 788 of 2026, 772 of 2026, 774 of 2026 and 778 of 2026 stand disposed of.
15. Call on 16.12.2026.
Justice P. S. Dinesh Kumar Presiding Officer
Ms. Meera Swarup Technical Member
Dr. Dheeraj Bhatnagar Technical Member 03.09.2026 VPM MRS PRAMILA Digitally signed by MRS PRAMILA Date: 2026.09.04 14:32:06 +05'30'