The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has permitted trading in the shares of Bharat Global Developers Ltd (BGDL) under strict conditions, requiring the company to disclose key financial data for the financial year 2024-25 before April 15.
The decision aims to protect investor interests after SEBI previously suspended trading due to financial misrepresentation and market manipulation concerns.
SEBI had imposed a trading suspension on BGDL in December 2024 following allegations of misleading disclosures, price manipulation, and offloading shares at inflated prices. The interim order had also placed multiple restrictions on the company and its officials.
Several investors later lodged complaints, stating that their investments were stuck due to the suspension, preventing them from liquidating or exiting their holdings. The company had 60,950 public shareholders as per its December 2024 BSE disclosures.
In its confirmatory order on March 27, 2025, SEBI directed BGDL to disclose its sales, purchases, gross profit, net profit, and net worth for FY 2024-25 before April 15. Trading will resume two days after the dissemination of these financial figures.
However, SEBI noted that the company failed to submit concrete evidence of genuine business activities supporting its financial statements or high-value contract claims.
SEBI has decided to continue restrictions on 18 entities, including BGDL’s Managing Director Ashok Kumar Sewada and CEO Mohsin Shaikh, preventing them from trading or liquidating their shareholdings.
Additionally, the regulator has extended its investigation timeline by three months until June 30, 2025, to examine management changes and obtain further responses regarding the allegations.
SEBI has directed the BSE to closely monitor BGDL’s disclosures and verify supporting documents for any announcements.
The company is also required to publicly acknowledge its inability to produce evidence for past claims of contracts with TATA Agro & Consumer Products, UPL Agro, and McCain India Agro.
Furthermore, SEBI has prohibited the stock split and bonus issue approved by BGDL’s board in November 2024 and its shareholders in December 2024.
SEBI’s investigation into BGDL was triggered by a dramatic 105-fold increase in its share price from Rs 16.14 in November 2023 to Rs 1,702.95 in November 2024.
The probe revealed that BGDL manipulated its stock price through false disclosures, preferential allotments, and misleading claims about business expansion, deceiving investors and artificially inflating share value.
SEBI’s conditional trading resumption for BGDL mandates FY25 financial disclosures by April 15, prioritising transparency. Restrictions on insiders and ongoing probes into past manipulation allegations persist, with corporate actions blocked.
While enabling investor exits, the order underscores unresolved misconduct risks. Regulatory scrutiny via BSE monitoring seeks to balance market access with accountability, emphasising SEBI’s investor-protection mandate amid the fallout from BGDL’s 105x price surge and false claims.
Disclaimer: This blog has been written exclusively for educational purposes. The securities mentioned are only examples and not recommendations. This does not constitute a personal recommendation/investment advice. It does not aim to influence any individual or entity to make investment decisions. Recipients should conduct their research and assessments to form an independent opinion about investment decisions.
Published on: Mar 27, 2025, 9:05 AM IST
Dev Sethia
Dev is a content writer with over 2 years of experience at Business Today, Times of India, and Financial Express. He has also contributed stories in Hindi for BT Bazaar and Khalsa Bandhan News Paper. A journalism postgraduate from ACJ-Bloomberg, Dev enjoys spending his spare time on the cricket pitch.
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