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2014 (3) TMI 1172 - AT - SEBISEBI Violation - price escalation of scrips - appellant was found guilty of manipulating the price of the scrip - imposed a monetary penalty of ₹ 5 lac under Section 15HA of the SEBI Act for violation of Regulation 4(1) and 4(2)(e) of the FUTP Regulations - HELD THAT:- The appellant executed trades during the period December 2003 to January 2004 whereas AIL’s annual results came out only after March 2004, and the December 2003 quarterly results were published only on January 2004 as has been noticed by the adjudicating officer in paragraph 21 of the impugned order. From the nature of the trading, it is clear that the appellant has sought to create a misleading impression that a large number of persons were trading in the scrip. This lends support to the finding of the adjudicating officer in paragraph 20 of the impugned order. It must not be forgotten that every trade establishes the price of the scrip and the noticee’s trading at higher than LTP resulted in the price of the scrip going up and were done with a view to set the price at a desired level and thereby influencing the innocent/gullible investors. By purchasing at a higher price in most of his trades, the noticee had given the wrong impression about the price of the scrip in the market. It is an accepted state of affairs that in cases of manipulation of the volume and / or price of a particular scrip, it is usually an arduous task to obtain direct evidence. However, the analysis of the trade and order logs as undertaken hereinabove, establishes the malafide intention of the appellant. Therefore, in view of the above factual position, we do not find any merit in the appeal and the same is dismissed.
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