Sebi slaps over Rs 1 crore fine on Suzlon Energy

Sebi today slapped a fine of more than Rs 1 crore on wind turbine maker Suzlon Energy for violating insider trading norms.

A total fine of Rs 1.1 crore, including Rs 5 lakh on an official, has been imposed as the company failed to disclose price sensitive information as required under the listing regulations on "more than one occasion". "I find that the investigation did not bring out the disproportionate gain or unfair advantages to the notices and loss caused to investors as a result of non-disclosure of truncation of order. "They failed to make the disclosure on more than one occasion, hence it can be said, it is repetitive in nature," Sebi's Adjudicating Officer Sahil Malik said in the order.

The noticees in the case were Suzlon Energy, its promoters Tulsi R Tanti and Girish R Tanti, and Hemal A Kanuga. Tulsi Tanti is Chairman and Managing Director while Girish Tanti is a Director. Kanuga, who has been fined Rs 5 lakh, is compliance officer, according to the order. According to information available on BSE, Kanuga is currently company secretary.

The violations pertain to failure to make certain corporate announcements about orders received by the company. The regulator looking into announcements made during the period from April 1, 2006 to March 31, 2009. "It was alleged that around 18.8 per cent of the order received by Noticee 1 (Suzlon) and informed by way of various corporate announcements were either not opted for by the clients or were not executed. It was also alleged that no specific corporate announcement was made by the noticees to inform stakeholders about the same," Sebi noted.

Securities and Exchange Board of India ( SEBI )