Sebi has barred 26 individuals from the securities market for up to two years for manipulating the price of SME-listed DU Digital Technologies, whose stock surged 1,393% between 2021 and 2023. The regulator ordered disgorgement of Rs 98.78 lakh plus interest and imposed penalties totalling Rs 1.87 crore after finding coordinated, deceptive trading.
Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has barred 26 individuals from accessing the capital markets for up to 2 years after finding them involved in price manipulation of SME stock DU Digital Technologies Limited. The regulator also directed disgorgement of Rs 98.78 lakh made by them as unlawful gains while slapping a Rs 1.87 crore penalty on them.
The 142-page order was passed on Wednesday, December 31, following a Sebi investigation in the scrip of DU Digital Technologies which is listed on the NSE’s SME platform. The Sebi investigation found the company’s stock price surge by 1,393% between August 26, 2021 and March 31, 2023.
Listed on August 26, 2021 at the price of Rs 12 per share, the stock closed at Rs 179.10. During this period, the scrip also closed at the highest price of Rs 296.05, which is 2,467% of the listing price, on November 11, 2022, the order noted.
The disgorgement of the unlawful gains along with the interest at the rate of 12% p.a. has been calculated from March 31, 2023 till the date of this order.
The investigation was undertaken as the stock price rose exponentially and Sebi found that the 26 accused acted as a “group” and employed deceptive trading strategies that contributed to the artificial increase in the price and volume in the scrip of DU Digital.
Following the investigation, Sebi issued a Show Cause Notice (SCN) on July 14, 2025.
Originally incorporated as Diva Envitec Filtration Technologies Private Limited, the company changed its name to DU Digital Technologies.
Among the arguments put forth by the accused, it was said that the trading activity in the scrip of DU Digital was consistently small in volume,
delivery-based, and executed solely with a purely investment-driven intent.
It was also said that a mere common address or broker cannot constitute a connection without proof of a meeting of minds. Moreover, the SCN relied on circumstantial data without the specific trade-to-trade linkage proof, required.
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