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JPC to probe UTI positions in `Ketan Parekh' scrips

Jayanta Mallick

KOLKATA, July 6

THE Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), probing the stock market scam, will take a cue from the lead provided by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) regarding UTI's sale and purchase of four so-called ``Ketan Parekh scrips'' -- HFCL, Zee Telefilm, Global Telesystems and DSQ Software -- from July 1999 to March 2001.

According to JPC sources, the data assumes importance in the context of SEBI's findings that Mr Parekh had been increasing his various broking entities' outstanding positions since mid-2000 in technology counters such as HFCL, Zee Telefilm, Global Telesy stems and DSQ Software.

According to SEBI's preliminary report to JPC, Mr Parkeh also used certain Kolkata brokers to create an ``artificial'' price spurt or to ``sustain the prices of some of the scrips which include Zee Telefilm, HFCL, DSQ Software and Global Telesystems''.

Sources maintain that the panel will attempt to find out whether UTI's purchase and sale decisions from time-to-time were in any way influenced by Mr Ketan Parekh's manipulative exercises. It will also be probed if during the unwinding process large chun ks were dumped on UTI.

According to SEBI's analysis of the sale and purchase data during the 21 months to March 2001, UTI had a positive (net of buy and sale) position in 2,03,576 Global Tele scrips, 23,70,412 DSQ Software scrips, 1,87,117 HFCL scrips and 79,42,839 Zee Telefil ms scrips.

In January and February 2001, UTI was a net seller in HFCL (1,45,000 and 38,000 scrips, respectively). However, in March 2001, it bought 1,46,000 HFCL shares. It was a net seller in Zee as well in January and February but was a net buyer (8,62,983 shares ).

UTI bought 13,30,000 DSQ Software and 1,70,000 Global Tele shares in March this year. It may be mentioned that from February 23 onwards the prices of Ketan Parkeh stocks began to tumble.