EKI Energy to challenge Sebi ban at SAT, disputes Rs 26.34 crore expense finding

EKI Energy Services on Tuesday said it is preparing to challenge the watchdog Sebi's order that barred the carbon trading firm, its Managing Director Manish Kumar Dabkara and others from the securities market for up to one year for misrepresenting financial statements and diverting funds. In its statement, the company highlighted that the order "itself records no quantifiable gain from the alleged defaults, no quantifiable loss to investors and no repeat default." Also, the company said it holds the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and its processes in high regard and that an appeal before the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) is part of the same legal process.

"Our approach through these proceedings has been to put every document on the table, and we will do the same before the Tribunal. I am confident the full record will support our position. Our teams remain focused on delivering for our clients and the households our projects reach, and our shareholders will hear from us at every step," Dabkara said. In an order dated October 30, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) barred EKI from the securities markets for two months, Dabkara for 12 months, and three others for one to five months for misrepresenting the carbon credits trading firm's financial statements and diverting funds.

Also, Sebi imposed monetary penalties totalling Rs 88 lakh on the company, Dabkara and others for various violations of securities market regulations. This included a penalty of Rs 12 lakh on EKI Energy Services and Rs 28 lakh on Dabkara. Further, the markets regulator directed Dabkara to take immediate steps to recoup the amount diverted from EKI Energy Services. In its statement, the company said that the final order narrowed expense finding to Rs 26.34 crore from Rs 48 crore in the show-cause notice. "The show cause notice had alleged overstated expenses of Rs 48 crore. After examining EKI's documents, the final order limited its finding to Rs 26.34 crore and accepted the balance as genuine," the company said.

For this amount, the order stated that EKI did not establish that the documents it placed before the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, the Income Tax Department and independent experts were the same as those before Sebi, it added. On this, EKI said it will place that evidence before the Tribunal. Also, EKI said that promoters did not liquidate their holdings during the period under review, and their stake remained steady at about 73.4 to 73.5 per cent. According to the company, the order did not find that any funds reached the Managing Director, the promoters or their relatives.