Mumbai, Sep 30 : Shares of Man Industries (India) Ltd nosedived over 16 per cent in morning trade on Tuesday after the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) barred the company and three of its senior executives from accessing the securities market for two years.

The regulator also imposed a penalty of Rs 25 lakh each on the executives for alleged misrepresentation of financial statements.

Those penalised include Chairman Ramesh Mansukhani, Executive Director Nikhil Mansukhani, and former Executive Director and current CFO Ashok Gupta, according to SEBI's order.

The market watchdog said the company's financials from FY16 to FY21 were 'deliberately misstated', depriving investors of a fair picture of its performance.

SEBI observed that Man Structural Pvt. Ltd. (MSPL), a wholly-owned subsidiary, was excluded from consolidation after FY15 without justification, thereby suppressing group-level losses and liabilities while inflating profits of the parent company.

Calling the penalty 'minimal' in comparison with its scale of operations, Man Industries said the order does not impact its day-to-day business.

'The company is examining the order in detail and will seek appropriate legal remedies,' it added.

At 11:46 am, shares of Man Industries were trading at Rs 358.30 on the NSE, down 11.80 per cent. The stock has slipped over 19 per cent in the past five sessions and lost more than 7 per cent in the last month. Despite the recent sell-off, the scrip remains nearly 10 per cent higher year-to-date. The stock opened at 356.20, falling sharply against last day's closing of 406.70.

Meanwhile, the domestic stock indices turned flat after starting the session in green. At around 11:57, the Sensex was at 80,310.56, down 54.38 points or 0.07 per cent, and Nifty was trading at 24,631.60, down 3.30 points or 0.01 per cent.

The domestic equity indices opened in the green zone on Tuesday, as investors kept their focus on the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) monetary policy decision.

/IANS