MUMBAI, Feb. 6 -- The Bombay High Court has set aside orders directing a stock broking firm to refund Rs.66.66 lakh in brokerage to a city-based chartered accountant (CA), holding that the losses were a direct result of his own decision to share his demat account login credentials with a stranger. The case arose after the CA allowed a third party to operate his trading account, which was subsequently used to carry out transactions worth over Rs.1,000 crore within a short span, leading to heavy losses and brokerage charges. The court was hearing a petition filed by Nirmal Bang Securities Pvt Ltd, which challenged orders passed by the Investor Grievance Redressal Committee (IGRC), an arbitral tribunal and an appellate arbitral tribunal in favour of the investor, Shashi Mehra. Mehra had opened a trading and demat account with the brokerage firm in 2007. While the account held shares worth around Rs.1.38 crore, it had remained inactive for several years. In April 2019, it was reactivated after one Mateen Attar approached Mehra, falsely claiming to be an authorised agent of the brokerage. Believing the representation, Mehra shared his login ID and password with Attar, who then began trading through the account. Between April 25, 2019 and the next two months, transactions worth Rs.1,057.86 crore were executed across equity, futures and options, and currency derivative segments. These trades resulted in losses of Rs.2.16 crore and brokerage charges of Rs.66.66 lakh. To recover part of the outstanding amounts, the brokerage firm liquidated all shares in Mehra's demat account, fetching about Rs.1.38 crore. Mehra later approached the IGRC, alleging misuse of his account and unnecessary trading to generate brokerage. The IGRC ordered a partial refund, while the arbitral tribunal subsequently directed a full refund of the brokerage amount. This order was upheld in appeal, prompting the broking firm to move the high court. Setting aside all three orders, Justice Sandeep Marne held that Mehra was not entitled to any refund as he had voluntarily shared his login credentials and permitted the operation of his account, despite receiving transaction alerts. The court also pointed out losses were a direct result of his own decision to share his demat account login credentials with a stranger. He was fully capable of understanding the nature and scale of the transactions being carried out in his account, even if he was not a professional market trader....