SEBI v. Arun Kumar Somani and others (insider trading review, Indian Oil Corporation, 2026)

Dismissed

✓ Checked against the primary document on October 8, 2026. The library's summary, tags and figures for this record were compared with the regulator's own document by an AI model (Claude) following written instructions, in a single reading of the order; an independent second reading of 60 SEBI records agreed on every field for 56, the four misses being penalty amounts; a later sample of 50 of the SEBI records added on 9 October agreed on every field for 46. No lawyer has reviewed them. A checked record can still contain errors, and checked does not mean endorsed. See how we check records or report a correction.

Report an error in this record (sebi-103590-insider-trading-2026) by email

In August 2026 a SEBI whole-time member reviewed under section 15-I(3) an adjudicating officer's finding that an Indian Oil employee did not pass quarterly-results information to his parents-in-law, who traded in the company's derivatives. The member found no error in that finding and declined to interfere, so no violation stands and no penalty was imposed.

The record

What was ordered

Civil penalty

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Disgorgement

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Prejudgment interest

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Total relief

—

Alleged gain

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A dash means the release did not state a figure we could extract, not that the figure is zero. Penalty and disgorgement are stored separately so aggregates across the library do not double-count the same dollars.

What is alleged to have happened

This is an order of 13 August 2026 by a SEBI whole-time member under section 15-I(3) of the SEBI Act, the power to review an adjudicating officer's order. It concerns three noticees: Arun Kumar Somani, a designated employee of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOCL), and his parents-in-law Ramesh Chand Gupta and Tara Devi Gupta.

SEBI's investigation, started after NSE observations, covered trading in IOCL from 3 October to 15 November 2023. It alleged that Mr Somani knew IOCL's quarterly results and interim dividend, announced on 31 October 2023, during the period from 20 to 31 October, that he communicated that information to his parents-in-law, and that they traded in IOCL derivatives, making profits of about Rs 16.70 lakh and Rs 10.48 lakh. An adjudicating officer issued a show-cause notice on 31 October 2024 and, by an order of 26 August 2025, found no violation.

The review notice asked whether that order was erroneous and against the interests of the securities market. The member rejected the noticees' preliminary objections, then held that the adjudicating officer had examined the evidence properly and that there was not enough evidence, on a balance of probabilities, that Mr Somani communicated the information or that his parents-in-law traded while holding it. A different view being possible is not a ground for interference under the review power.

The earlier order stands. No penalty, restraint or disgorgement was imposed, and the order does not rule out that the trades were profitable, only that the alleged communication was not proved.

The record does not show any appeal or further proceedings. It describes no criminal case. As a review that leaves a dismissal in place, the allegations remain allegations only.

This library tags the matter as insider trading. The tagging is ours, not the regulator's.

For the regulator's own account of the facts, read the primary document linked above. This page deliberately summarises the structured record rather than reproducing the order.

What technique is this, and how does it work?

This action is tagged with one technique in our taxonomy. The tagging is ours: regulators charge statutory provisions, not technique names, so the mapping is an editorial judgement described in our editorial policy.

• Insider trading — see how it works, what statute it engages, and every other action tagged the same way.

Timeline

1. 2026-08-13 SEBI review order under section 15-I(3) declining to interfere

Primary documents

Everything on this page derives from the documents below. Where our summary and the primary document disagree, the primary document is right.

• SEBI order
• SEBI order (PDF)

The linked release is published by the issuing regulator under its own terms. Our summary and narrative above are our own writing.

Related actions

Other actions in the library sharing at least one technique tag with this one.

Record added October 8, 2026. submit a correction.