IndiGo share price falls before Aditya Ghosh's resignation under Sebi lens

Stock price fell 6.3% on Friday before the announcement

The sharp fall in the share price of InterGlobe Aviation, the company that operates IndiGo, has come under the regulatory scanner. 
 

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has asked stock exchanges to furnish information on the company’s share price data for the last one month to check for any possible violation of insider trading norms, sources said.

Shares of InterGlobe Aviation fell over 6 per cent, the most in seven months, on April 27, before the airline announced the resignation of the company’s president Aditya Ghosh.

“We have received information regarding trades made during the period along with consolidated data of trading volumes and pattern of share price movement. We are looking into the data,” an official privy to the development said.

“We have not received any notification from Sebi. In any event, please note that IndiGo has complied with all stock exchange listing requirements relating to the announcement of Aditya Ghosh as president and whole-time director of IndiGo,” an IndiGo spokesperson said.
 

According to sources, the market regulator has asked the company to provide details of key managerial personnel aware of the development. Since the company’s senior management was privy to the price-sensitive information of Ghosh’s resignation, Sebi wanted to check whether the information was disseminated properly to bourses, they said.

IndiGo on Friday announced that Ghosh would step down as president and promoter Rahul Bhatia would take over as the interim chief executive officer.

Ghosh stepped down as director effective April 26, while his resignation as president would come into effect from July 31.

Legal experts said Sebi should probe the delay in the disclosure of Ghosh’s resignation. The aviation major informed the stock exchanges about the development a day after it occurred.

InterGlobe Aviation’s share price has been volatile since March, amid the strategic sale of Air India. IndiGo had earlier expressed interest in the national carrier’s international operations, but later decided not to bid. Shares of the company had rallied more than 20 per cent between end March and mid-April.