SEBI has ordered impounding unlawful gain of ₹11.37 crore made by market expert and former director of IIFL Sanjiv Bhasin and 11 others in a front-running case.

In an interim-order pronounced on Tuesday, SEBI said an amount of ₹11.37 crore being the unlawful gains earned from the alleged violations, will be impounded, jointly and severally and the amount kept therein will not be released without permission from SEBI.

Enablers barred

The market regulator also barred Bhasin and 11 others including enablers Lalit Bhasin, Ashish Kapur and RRB Master Securities; information mis-users Rajiv Kapoor, Jagat Singh and Praveen Gupta; profit makers: Venus Portfolios, Gemini Portfolios, HB Stockholdings, Leo Portfolios and Babita Gupta.

The present proceedings emanate from an investigation conducted by SEBI between January, 2020, and June 2024.

As a guest expert, Bhasin appeared on various business TV shows on CNBC Awaaz, CNBC English, ET Now, ET Now Swadesh and Zee Business and used to give buy/sell recommendations (mostly buy) about listed companies, citing reasons along with price target range.

During his appearances on TV shows, the designation of Bhasin was shown as ‘Director, IIFL’. Investigation revealed that Bhasin had traded through trading member RRB Master Securities Delhi, in the accounts of its clients Venus Portfolios, Gemini Portfolios and HB Stock Holdings contrary to his recommendations made in TV channels.

Exclusive contract

Investigation revealed that the Times Group signed an exclusive contract with Bhasin for his appearances on ET Now and ET Now Swadesh from October 2023 onwards. Bhasin was given this contract on the basis of his experience with IIFL and his popularity among the retail investors (both Hindi and English Channel followers).

“I deem it appropriate to hold that there is a prima facie case of manipulative, fraudulent and unfair trade practice carried out by Noticees, which ultimately generated huge amount of unlawful gains of about ₹11.37 crore,” said the order.

Justifying the need for interim ex-parte order, SEBI said the market regulator cannot remain a mute spectator when such kind of fraudulent and manipulative activities take place in the securities markets by personalities who are actually revered in the securities markets domain and have a huge following on various social media platforms.

SEBI is required to take note when innocent and gullible investors invest huge corpus/amount of money based on ill intended recommendations of such experts, it said.

Unlawful gains

Further, the order said there is an urgency to protect the unlawful gains from getting siphoned off beyond the regulatory reach. The order is also a pointer to investors to exercise due diligence before believing any recommendations. This practice of believing market tips blindly can be harmful to investors’ interest, it added.

Earlier, IIFL Securities clarified that Bhasin was associated with the brokerage house as a consultant on a contractual basis and he was not a member of the board of directors of IIFL Securities.

Published on June 17, 2025