SEBI restricts 26 from markets; penalizes Rs.1.87 crores

SEBI restricts 26 from markets; penalizes Rs.1.87 crores

The individuals undertook deceptive trading strategies, resulting in an artificial increase in the price and volume in the scrip

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has barred 26 persons from the markets for two years for manipulating the price of DU Digital Technologies, whose shares surged 1,393 percent from 26 August 2021 to 31 March 2023.

While ordering disgorgement of Rs.98.78 lakh plus interest, the regulator imposed Rs.1.87 crore on them for coordinated deceptive trading.

SEBI’s 142-page order was passed on 31 December 2025 after it investigated the scrip of DU Digital, listed on the National Stock Exchange's (NSEs) SME platform.

Listed at the price of Rs.12 per share in August 2021, the stock closed at Rs.179.10. During this period, the scrip also closed at the highest price of Rs.296.05 (2,467 percent of the listing price), on 11 November 2022.

The expulsion of the unlawful gains, along with interest, at the rate of 12 percent p.a., was from 31 March 2023 till the date of the order.

Incorporated as Diva Envitec Filtration Technologies Private Limited, the company later changed its name to DU Digital Technologies.

SEBI investigated after the stock price rose exponentially. The market regulator observed that the 26 accused acted as a ‘group’. They undertook deceptive trading strategies, resulting in an artificial increase in the price and volume in the scrip. Thereafter, the regulator issued a Show Cause Notice (SCN) to them on 14 July 2025.

In defense, the accused submitted that the trading activity in the scrip of DU Digital was meagre, delivery-based, and executed solely for investment purposes.

They added that a common address or broker was not sufficient proof for SEBI’s action, and the notice relied on circumstantial data, without specific trade-to-trade linkage evidence.