Infosys slaps Rs 2 lakh fine on independent director Bobby Parikh for 'inadvertent trade'

IT giant Infosys has imposed a penalty of Rs 2 lakh on its independent director Bobby Parikh for an "inadvertent trade" by the portfolio management services of his spouse Bela Parikh.

Detailing out the inadvertent trade by a designated person, Infosys said the portfolio management services of Bela Parikh had bought 2,754 shares during the open trading window period "without the knowledge of Bobby Parikh and without obtaining pre-clearance of trade". Bobby Parikh is the joint holder of that account. 

'There was a violation of the company's policy'

"Mr Parikh has confirmed that he was not in possession of any unpublished price sensitive information. The audit committee of the company was notified of this matter," the IT giant said in a regulatory filing on Friday. 

"Based on Bobby Parikh's submission, the audit committee has concluded that this was an inadvertent trade made without intent to violate the company's insider trading policy or the SEBI's Prohibition of Insider Trading Regulations, 2015 (PIT Regulations)," the filing said.

"However, the audit committee has determined that there was a violation of the company's policy and PIT Regulations and has therefore imposed on Mr Parikh, a penalty of Rs 200,000 which amount shall be remitted to Investor Protection Education Fund (IPEF) in line with the PIT regulations," it said. 

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Six of 10 top valued firms lose Rs 78,275.12 cr

Meanwhile, six of the 10 most valued domestic firms witnessed a combined erosion of Rs 78,275.12 crore in market valuation last week, pulled down largely by heavyweights Reliance Industries and Tata Consultancy Services. During the last week, the Sensex declined 163.23 points or 0.42%.

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Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), HDFC Bank, Hindustan Unilever Limited, Bharti Airtel and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the losers. The market capitalisation of Infosys, HDFC, ITC and ICICI Bank, however, rose last week. The valuation of Infosys rose by Rs 1,171.31 crore to Rs 4,06,123.91 crore.

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In the ranking of ten most valued companies, RIL was at the lead place followed by TCS, HDFC Bank, HUL, Infosys, HDFC, Bharti Airtel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ITC and ICICI Bank.

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(With agency inputs)