Sebi bars two entities over alleged price manipulation

Mumbai: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has barred Delhi-based stockbroker Prrsaar Sampada, another Delhi-based company Chaubara Eats and their four directors from the securities market and ordered the impounding of wrongful gains totalling ₹28 crore in an alleged cross segment price manipulation case involving stock futures and options.

The regulator's action followed an internal analysis by the National Stock Exchange, which flagged an abnormal trading pattern by Prrsaar. The entity was found to be earning higher profits in stock options while incurring losses in stock futures, Sebi said.

Prrsaar, which is registered as a stock broker, depository participant and research analyst, was asked by NSE to provide clarifications in February and March 2026.


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Following this, its proprietary trading activity declined significantly, while similar activity by Chaubara increased substantially, indicating a sequential shift in trading activity between the two related entities.

Sebi said it had examined 23 instances involving the two entities - 13 profit scrip days for Prrsaar and 10 for Chaubara - and found prima facie evidence of manipulation across the futures and options segments.

The regulator alleged that they would first place large aggressive orders in stock futures, either buying at prices higher than the last traded price (LTP) or selling below the LTP.

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At the same time, they had already placed orders in the options segment in the opposite direction. The aggressive futures trades pushed the price of the underlying futures contract sharply up or down.

The movement in futures prices then influenced the corresponding options prices. This allowed the entities' pre-positioned options orders to get executed at favourable prices.

The entities would then reverse the entire sequence within a short period by taking opposite positions in the same stock's futures and options contracts.