mumbai, July 11 -- Sanjiv Bhasin, former director of IIFL Securities, has approached the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT), challenging a Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) order that accused him of market manipulation, according to a copy of the plea seen by Mint. In its 17 June order, Sebi alleged that Bhasin was involved in front-running and stock manipulation. The market regulator barred Bhasin and 11 others from securities trading for allegedly engaging in coordinated fraudulent trading by placing orders ahead of offering stock recommendations on television and social media. The SAT is scheduled to hear the matter on Thursday. Bhasin is being represented by law firm Vishesha Law, per a court filing. Front-running refers to trading in a stock or any other financial asset by a broker who has insider knowledge of a future transaction that is likely to impact its price. "Sebi's order has caused significant hardship, resulting in freezing of all bank accounts and securities, thereby severely disrupting my finances," said the 28-page petition. In the petition, Bhasin denied all allegations and sought a stay on the "effect and operation" of the order. Essentially, a stay of the "effect and operation of an order" means that a court has temporarily suspended the enforcement of a legal order, preventing it from taking effect or being executed while the matter is under review or until a further order is made. Calling the order "perverse and arbitrary," Bhasin alleged that Sebi's directions were "harsh, exorbitant and unreasonable" and therefore "liable to be quashed and set aside." In his plea, Bhasin said he did not receive any "direct monetary benefit" from the transactions in question and that there had been no inflow of funds into his account. "It is submitted that (Sebi's) directions are excessive, disproportionate and based on erroneous computation of alleged unlawful gains," the petition stated. "The appellant (Bhasin) submits that the calculation of gains includes profits from stocks that were neither the subject of any recommendations nor traded with intent alleged in the order," it said. Sebi had found that certain individuals and entities, including Bhasin, were engaged in making stock recommendations to the public through various social media platforms. It said that prior or simultaneous trades were executed to generate unlawful gains. As a result, Bhasin was restrained from accessing the securities market. The regulator, in its order, held that Bhasin would first buy the securities himself and later recommend the same securities to the public on news channels including Zee Business, ET Now and IIFL's Telegram channel. Once the prices of the securities rose following the recommendations, Bhasin would sell the securities, thus making a profit. Sebi pointed out that such activity amounted to "fraudulent or manipulative scheme designed to mislead investors or gain unfair market advantage." According to Bhasin, the unlawful gains should be assessed and attributed separately based on different roles and responsibilities....