Sebi imposes Rs 10 lakh fine on Bajaj Hindusthan for disclosure lapses

Capital markets regulator Sebi on Friday imposed a penalty of Rs 10 lakh on Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar Ltd for not disclosing closure orders with respect to its certain distilleries and imposition of penalty by Central Pollution Control Board.

The company has been directed to pay the fine within 45 days, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said in its order.

The order came after the regulator received a complaint through SCORES against Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar, whereby the complainant raised concerns regarding false reporting/misreporting in the annual report in respect of Show Cause Notices (SCNs) issued by Pollution Control Board.

Following this, Sebi conducted an investigation and found that the company did not disclose about closure orders with respect to the three distilleries -- Palia, Gola and Kinauni. Further, imposition of penalty of Rs 1.96 crore on certain distilleries was also not disclosed during the financial year 2019-20.

It further said that the closure orders had a substantial impact on the sales, production, revenue and profit for FY 2018-19 to FY 2019-20.

"The closure order of units/distilleries and imposition of penalty/directions of CPCB (Central Pollution Control Board) on certain units of the noticee (Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar)... are material events that ought to have been disclosed by the noticee in terms of Sebi LODR (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements (LODR) rules," the regulator said.

In addition, the company furnished "wrong and misleading" information with regard to number of show cause or legal notices received from CPCB/SPCB (State Pollution Control Board) pending as on the end of financial year under the disclosures in Business Responsibility Report (BRR).

Accordingly, the regulator levied the fine on the company.