Sebi slaps Rs 26-cr penalty on Coffee Day

TIL Desk/Business/New Delhi/ The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Tuesday imposed a penalty of Rs 26 crore on Coffee Day Enterprises (CDEL) for alleged violation of securities laws. The regulator also directed the company to initiate steps to recover dues of Rs 3,535 crore—the amount diverted from seven subsidiaries of CDEL to Mysore Amalgamated Coffee Estates (MACEL).

Affirming the violations of the Sebi (Prevention of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices) Regulations and Sebi (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, whole-time member Ashwani Bhatia said the listed company was being run like a personal fiefdom with no checks and balances in place.

From the total transfers of Rs 3,535 crore from subsidiaries, only Rs 111 crore had been returned by MACEL since July 2019. “The reluctance on part of CDEL to recover dues from MACEL is apparent from the fact that CDEL has so far not taken any coercive action against MACEL,” noted Sebi.