Vellayan returns as chairman of Murugappa group

In May he stepped down after Sebi charged him with insider trading

A Vellayan will resume chairmanship of Murugappa group’s board. In May, he had stepped down after the market regulator charged him and three others with insider-trading. The Rs 26,900-crore Murugappa group said its board had requested Vellayan to resume chairmanship after an assessment of the status of the proceedings, and after considering legal advice..

“The board believes this action is consistent with the group's values of putting all stakeholder interests first and enables Vellayan to resume chairmanship to provide leadership,” said the group on Friday.

In May, Vellayan had decided to step down after the market regulator charged him with insider-trading. The regulator’s order, linking Vellayan to trades by two individuals in shares of Sabero Organics Gujarat Ltd, a company acquired by Coromandel International in May 2011, was based on suspicion, said the Murugappa group. The group said, the only link sought to be made by the market regulator  between Vellayan and these transactions was that one A R Murugappan is a distant relative (son of a grand aunt) and had had a property transaction with Vellayan way before the Sabero transaction was even thought about.



“The market regulator has jumped to the conclusion the trades could be attributed to suspected communication of unpublished price-sensitive information about the Sabero deal by Vellayan to this distant relative,” said the group.