The National Stock Exchange (NSE) revealed in its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) for its upcoming initial public offering (IPO) that it lodged a police complaint concerning the wrongful retention and sale of shares mistakenly credited to an individual’s demat account. The complaint targeted an individual named Kashmiri Lal Rana under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for suspected criminal breach of trust and cheating.
NSE claimed that 5,000 of its equity shares were mistakenly credited to Rana’s demat account and were intentionally retained despite not being rightfully his. Subsequently, 3,685 of these shares were reportedly sold for around Rs 1.33 crore (Rs 13.27 million).
Additionally, NSE and Nuvama Wealth Finance Ltd initiated a civil suit in May 2025 at the Delhi High Court to recover the shares and sales proceeds linked to this incident. As per the DRHP, the two entities alleged that 5,000 NSE shares were wrongly credited to Rana’s demat account in December 2023 without any purchase request or payment made.
The plaintiffs are seeking the recovery of approximately Rs 1.44 crore, representing the proceeds from the shares’ sale, and the return of the remaining 1,315 shares along with 5,260 bonus shares accrued on them. Furthermore, the Delhi High Court, through an interim order in May 2025, prohibited the transfer or sale of the remaining shares and bonus shares until the case is resolved.
“The matter is currently pending,” NSE stated. According to the draft documents submitted to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), NSE, through its authorized representative, filed a First Information Report (FIR) at the Bandra-Kurla Complex Police Station in July 2025.
