Overview

• SEBI’s 109-page final order describes a two-phase scheme that inflated Sadhna Broadcast share prices through collusive trades and misleading YouTube videos before promoters sold off holdings.
• Bollywood actor Arshad Warsi and his wife Maria Goretti were each fined ₹5 lakh, banned for one year and found to have profited ₹41.70 lakh and ₹50.35 lakh respectively.
• The regulator identified Gaurav Gupta, Rakesh Kumar Gupta and Manish Mishra as the chief orchestrators and imposed penalties of ₹5 lakh to ₹5 crore on the remaining noticees.
• All 59 entities must disgorge ₹58.01 crore of unlawful gains plus 12% per annum interest from the end of the investigation to actual payment.
• The verdict highlights SEBI’s stepped-up efforts to curb social media-driven market manipulation and to protect retail investors from fraud.