The Securities and Appellate Tribunal (SAT) on Monday granted interim relief to actor Arshad Warsi and his wife Maria Goretti Warsi stating that Securities and Exchange Board of India did not consider essential facts while passing the order.

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"...there is no iota of evidence against the appellants to show that they were engaged in a coordinated scheme to induce unsuspecting investors to acquire securities in the scrip in question," SAT said.

SEBI had earlier banned actor Arshad Warsi, his wife Maria Goretti and promoters of Sadhna Broadcast among others, from the securities market and were penalised for running a 'pump and dump' scheme.

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SAT bench, headed by the tribunal's chairperson Justice Tarun Agarwala, directed the couple and Warsi’s brother Iqbal Hussain Warsi to deposit 50 percent of the alleged illegal gains in an escrow account. However, setting aside SEBI's order, the tribunal noted, "Investigations are still going on and the possibility of the appellants being involved in the manipulative scheme cannot be ruled out. However, at this stage, the impugned order is bereft of any evidence against the appellants requiring passing of such strong and harsh order." The ban, however, remains for trading in scrip of Sadhna Broadcast.

According to SEBI’S assessment, actor Arshad Warsi made profits of Rs 29 lakh and his wife Maria Goretti Warsi made profits of Rs 38 lakh. Warsi reportedly uploaded misleading videos on YouTube channels recommending investors to buy shares of the company. SEBI has found 45 YouTubers including Arshad guilty in the Share Pump & Dump scheme.

As per its annual report, Sadhna Broadcast is engaged in the business of launching television channels and to carry out the business of TV, newsfilms, music, serials.

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