Sebi amen of former independent directors of Brightcom for governance towers

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Monday, October 6, imposed monetary penalties at Allam Raghunath and Subrato Saha, former independent administrators and members of the Audit Committee of Brightcom Group LTD (BGL), for having failed to demonstrate reasonable diligence in the supervision of financial reports of the company. While Raghunath was sentenced to a fine of 30 ₹ Lakh, Saha was invited to pay 5 Lakh.

In its final order dated October 6, 2025, the market regulator judged that the two administrators had failed in their fiduciary responsibilities, contributing to the publication of unnecessary financial statements by Brightcom between the 2014-15 financial year and the 2019-20 financial year, in violation of the regulation of obligations and disclosure of SEBI (REDR).

SEBI’s investigation, supported by a forensic audit, revealed that Brightcom distorted its financial situation and inflated the profits of 1,280.06 crosses during the 2018-19 and 2019-20 financial year.

The audit revealed that BGL did not recognize the losses of deficiency resulting from the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) of the EU, which considerably affected its operations. Instead, the company has misused a loss of 868.3 sterling books under “another global result” rather than in the profit and loss account for the 2019-20 financial year.

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Likewise, Brightcom did not take into account a loss of impairment of 411.76 crore linked to the failure of the acquisition by a subsidiary of Lycos during the 2018-19 financial year. The company has also wrongly launched that the costs of research and development of a value of 504.49 crosses as an active between 2014-15 and 20102019-20, thus overestimating its profitability.

The regulator noted that these irregularities have distorted the financial situation of the company, misleads investors and allowed promoters to unload stocks at inflated prices – under the confidence of investors and the integrity of the market.

In June 2025, public shareholders owned almost 82% of the company, including 43.4% by retail investors and 21.9% by wealthy individuals (HNIS).

Brightcom Group declared a net profit of 710 crore ₹ during fiscal year 25, up 3.3% in annual sliding, while income increased by 10.4% to 5,147 sterling books.

However, the stock plunged more than 88% compared to its December 2021 peak. On Monday, Brightcom’s shares closed 3.1% down to 13.58 ₹ on the NSE, evaluating the company at 2,740 sterling books.