The finance journalist who is known for bringing Harshad Mehta, famed as the ‘Big Bull’ of the stock market, down when she found his involvement in rigging the stock prices.
We of course are talking about Mrs Sucheta Dalal, wife of Debashis Basu. the Harshad Mehta scam wasn’t the only scam she unveiled, after her apparent fame in Harshad Mehta scam she went on and investigated many more scams like the ‘ Ketan Parekh’ scam and the DHFL promoter’s scam even the NSE was caught by her for it’s scam.
Sucheta Dalal (Scam 1992) – The name that exposed “The Big Bull” of the Indian Stock Market, Harshad Mehta and other significant financial scams, has been portrayed by Shreya Dhanwanthary in Scam 1992 by sonyliv. After the Sony liv series scam 1992 she became even more popular among the younger generation, so let’s talk about her journey, how did she start and how did she become probably India’s one of the biggest financial journalists with a Padma Shri from Former President Late. APJ Abdul Kalam.
Sucheta Dalal Early career
After completing her graduation in statistics at Karnataka College she studied as a lawyer from Bombay University. Then in 1984 she began her career as a journalist after an interview with Fortune India (investment magazine). Then she went on and became a business journalist at Times of India. There she investigated and uncovered many scams which included India’s biggest Financial scams in 1992 (Harshad Mehta Scam), Ketan Parekh Scam, Enron Scam and many others.
Sucheta Dalal In Harshad Mehta Scam
People don’t seem to understand how big of an achievement it was to uncover Infamous Harshad Mehta scam. At that time Harshad Mehta lived a very luxurious life and had many strong connections and the stock market was flooded by his name, so writing anything against him was full of risks. Almost like accusing Mukesh Ambani of any manipulations now, if you do this without any strong proof then be ready to enjoy your life in jail.
After exposing Harshad she began openly writing about the Bear Cartel also and how they manipulated the stock prices. After uncovering this story she quickly climbed as the financial editor of Times of India.
Sucheta Dalal In Ketan Parekh Scam
Ketan parekh used to work under Harshad Mehta at growmore and he was accused of insider trading which is made illegal by SEBI, he was convicted of rigging the markets and was banned from trading until 2017.
Ketan Parekh also used the loopholes that existed in the system back then, draining off almost ₹1200 crores of the public’s money. The damage he caused to the public was so bad that the Serious Frauds Investigation Office (SFIO) estimated that the fraud amount could reach as much as ₹40,000 crore. Ironically he was also mentored by the Big Bull himself Harshad Mehta.
When the scam was open to the public by sucheta dalal Ketan was arrested by the CBI, he was banned from trading and was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment in march 2014 after he led Calcutta Stock Exchange into a financial downfall
Sucheta Dalal Vs. NSE Co-location Case
In 2015 NSE was accused of sharing highly sensitive information on its co-location with some individuals so that they can trade better and faster than their competitors. When Sucheta Dalal came to know of such allegations she began investigating these accusations after confirming she covered this in her magazine. NSE filed a defamation case against her but eventually Sucheta’s research proved right and NSE lost.
NSE was ordered to pay Sucheta and her husband Debashis Basu and it was fined ₹1,000 crores by the court. The top management was also ordered to resign after NSE was proved guilty.
Where Is Sucheta Dalal Now?
When Sucheta Dalal uncovered Harshad Mehta’s scam she climbed to the top as the financial editor in the TImes Of India. While she married her co-worker Debashis Basu in the process she remained a journalist and kept uncovering many financial scams done by the big players in the market.
Now Sucheta and her husband Debashis have started their own financial magazine named as the “MoneyLife Magazine” they both still investigate and if found guilty writes about any scams, bringing it to the public’s light.
Sucheta dalal received Padma Shri award for her stellar work in the field of journalism by APJ Abdul Kalam himself. She was subsequently awarded the Chameli Devi award and feminine woman of substance award.
Recently her tweet was aimed at the adani shares. Sucheta dalal’s tweet caused the stock to fall, it was the first time that adani’s stock went down 25%. Now 59 year old she is a prominent journalist known for recovering high profile financial scams.
Conclusion
Sucheta dalal always stated that in the financial market it doesn’t matter who has done the scam or who made the profit but one thing is for sure the retail investors like you and me will always be in loss.
Sucheta dalal’s story tells us that it really doesn’t matter who you are and who you are going against, if you are right you will always emerge as a winner.
Her story is about taking inspiration and doing what’s right even if your opponent is the ‘Big Bull’ of the stock market Harshad Mehta himself. So don’t be afraid if you are doing good or the right thing because even if you are nothing you can also achieve greatness.
