SEBI completes recovery in Sadhna Broadcast YouTube stock case

The Enforcement Action

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has completed recovery of dues from two individuals it penalised in the long-running matter of stock recommendations circulated through YouTube in the scrip of Sadhna Broadcast Limited. In notices posted on 13 August 2026, the regulator recorded the completion of Recovery Certificate No. 9254 of 2026, dated 27 July 2026, issued to Pooja Aggarwal (PAN AGMPA6216C), and Recovery Certificate No. 9243 of 2026, dated 27 July 2026, issued to Arpan Gupta (PAN AMCPG5914F). Both were listed as defaulters in the recovery proceedings that followed SEBI's final order in the matter.

Recovery certificates are the instruments SEBI's recovery officers use to collect penalties and disgorgement that a noticee has not paid voluntarily. Marking a certificate as complete indicates that the amount demanded under it has been recovered. The two certificates close that step for these defaulters. The wider matter, which SEBI first acted on through an interim order dated 2 March 2023 and concluded through a final order dated 29 May 2025, named dozens of entities.

The underlying case concerns what SEBI described as a coordinated scheme to inflate the share price of Sadhna Broadcast, a listed broadcasting company, and then offload shares at the elevated price. SEBI's orders in the matter are regulatory findings reached after its own quasi-judicial proceedings and are appealable to the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT). The recovery notices are administrative steps enforcing the monetary directions of the final order, not fresh findings.

Neither Pooja Aggarwal nor Arpan Gupta appears to have publicly commented on the completion of the recovery certificates.

How the Scheme Worked

Per SEBI's interim order dated 2 March 2023, a set of entities acquired shares in Sadhna Broadcast and then used YouTube channels to publish misleading videos aimed at drawing retail investors into the stock. The order named two channels, 'The Advisor' and 'Moneywise', which the regulator said carried videos promoting the share around the middle of 2022.

According to the order, the videos spread a false narrative that Sadhna Broadcast was set to be acquired by the Adani Group, and pointed to the stock as a buying opportunity. SEBI found that this promotion coincided with a sharp rise in the share price and in traded volume as retail viewers bought in. The entities behind the scheme, the regulator said, sold their holdings into that demand and booked gains, after which the price fell and later buyers were left carrying losses.

SEBI structured its analysis around distinct phases, or patches, of price and volume movement, matching the promotional videos to the trading windows in which the connected entities offloaded stock. In the interim order the regulator restrained 31 entities and impounded alleged unlawful gains of about Rs 41.85 crore, directing that the sums be placed in escrow pending completion of the investigation.

The matter then moved through SEBI's usual sequence: an ex-parte interim order on 2 March 2023, a confirmatory order on 20 July 2023 that continued the directions after hearing objections, and a final order on 29 May 2025 after a full investigation. By the final order the roster of noticees had grown to around sixty entities, and SEBI quantified the disgorgeable unlawful gains across the scheme at roughly Rs 58 crore, imposing market-access restrictions of up to five years on various participants. Among the well-known names the March 2023 interim order had listed were actor Arshad Warsi and Maria Goretti.

The recovery certificates completed now flow from that final order. Where the monetary liabilities fixed on individual noticees were not paid, SEBI's recovery machinery was invoked to collect them, and Certificates No. 9254 and No. 9243 of 2026 represent that step for two of them.

The Law Invoked

SEBI acted under its core enforcement powers in the SEBI Act, 1992. Coverage of the final order records the regulator invoking Sections 11(1), 11(4) and 11B of the Act, the provisions that let SEBI act to protect investors and the securities market, restrain persons from dealing in securities, and issue remedial and disgorgement directions.

The conduct itself was assessed under SEBI's Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices relating to Securities Market (PFUTP) Regulations, 2003. Those regulations prohibit manipulative and deceptive devices, the creation of a false or misleading appearance of trading, and the dissemination of misleading information to induce dealing in securities. SEBI found that publishing videos built on a fabricated acquisition story to move a share price fell within the conduct those regulations prohibit.

The recovery stage rests on a separate mechanism: SEBI's power to recover amounts due, exercised through recovery officers and recovery certificates, which mirrors the procedure used for tax recovery and can extend to attachment and sale of a defaulter's assets. That is the machinery under which the two certificates were issued and have now been marked complete.

What Happens Next

For the two defaulters whose certificates are complete, the recovery step under those certificates is closed. Any residual liabilities, if other certificates remain outstanding against them, would continue through the same process, which can include attachment of bank accounts and the attachment and sale of property.

Across the wider matter, noticees who dispute SEBI's final order retain the right to appeal to the Securities Appellate Tribunal, and from there, on questions of law, to the Supreme Court. SEBI's findings, though reached after a quasi-judicial hearing, are civil and regulatory in character. They are not criminal convictions, and on appeal they can be upheld, modified or set aside. Where an appeal or stay is in force for a particular noticee, the directions against that person operate accordingly.

For investors watching from outside, the practical position is simpler. The restrictions keep the named entities out of the securities market for their stated periods, and the disgorged sums, once recovered, are dealt with in line with SEBI's directions in the order.

What It Means

The signal from a completed recovery is that SEBI's monetary directions are not merely paper penalties. The regulator does pursue collection long after the headlines fade, here more than two years after the first interim order. For ordinary investors, though, the more useful lesson lies in the mechanics of the scheme rather than in the sums recovered.

Stock tips delivered through slick YouTube videos, Telegram groups or WhatsApp forwards, especially those promising that a little-known company is about to be bought by a marquee group, follow a documented pattern. The people promoting the stock often already hold it, and they profit precisely when new buyers rush in. A genuine acquisition is disclosed by the listed company to the stock exchanges, not trailed first on a tip channel.

Two habits guard against this category of risk. First, verify who is giving the advice: only investment advisers and research analysts registered with SEBI may recommend securities for a fee, and their registration can be checked on SEBI's website. Second, treat price-sensitive claims that appear only on social media, and not in a company's exchange filings, as unverified. If a video urges you to buy quickly before a rumoured deal is announced, that urgency is itself the warning sign.

FAQ

What exactly did SEBI record in these notices?

SEBI recorded the completion of two recovery certificates, No. 9254 of 2026 and No. 9243 of 2026, both dated 27 July 2026, issued to Pooja Aggarwal and Arpan Gupta, defaulters in the Sadhna Broadcast YouTube-recommendations matter. Completion means the amounts demanded under those certificates have been recovered.

What is the legal status of SEBI's findings in this matter?

SEBI's orders are civil and regulatory findings reached through its own quasi-judicial process, not criminal convictions. They can be appealed to the Securities Appellate Tribunal, which may uphold, modify or set them aside. The recovery certificates enforce the monetary directions of SEBI's final order; they are not a criminal sentence.

Can SEBI's order still be challenged?

Yes. Any noticee aggrieved by the final order dated 29 May 2025 may appeal to the Securities Appellate Tribunal, and further to the Supreme Court on questions of law. Recovery can, in appropriate cases, be affected by a stay granted on appeal.

How can I check whether a stock tip is legitimate?

Only SEBI-registered investment advisers and research analysts may recommend securities for consideration, and their registration can be verified on SEBI's website. Genuine corporate developments such as acquisitions are disclosed by the company to the stock exchanges; a claim that appears only on a YouTube or messaging channel is unverified.

Where can I read the official record?

The recovery notice sits under the enforcement section of sebi.gov.in, alongside the interim order dated 2 March 2023 and the final order dated 29 May 2025 in the Sadhna Broadcast Limited matter.

This report is based on SEBI's recovery notice recording completion of Recovery Certificate No. 9254 of 2026 dated 27 July 2026, read with the regulator's interim order (2 March 2023) and final order (29 May 2025) in the Sadhna Broadcast Limited matter, all published on sebi.gov.in.