Key Points:
Rajesh Mehta addressed the allegations of having links with the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) amid SEBI's probe into ₹15.15 lakh crore revenue misfiling.
LIC Held onto its 10.8% stake in the company, despite Rajesh Exports stock price crashing 55% in the last year.
Chairman & Managing Director of Rajesh Exports claim LIC's investment is made in the public market and none of his company's promoter has benefited from it
EVER SINCE SEBI’S INTERIM ORDER against Rajesh Exports and his Chairman & Managing Director Rajesh Mehta on June 3, 2026, LIC has come under scanner for having a major stake in the gold and jewelry refinery company. Despite there being warning signs since SEBI’s investigation began in 2024, and the stock price of Rajesh Exports plummeting by 55% in the last year, the Life Insurance Corporation held on to its 10.8% stake, even though other mutual funds strayed away from the jewelry firm.
Rajesh Mehta has come out to publicly address these allegations of having some internal links with the government-owned insurance company. In an interview with PTI, he said Rajesh Exports has no bearings with LIC’s conduct and its investment strategy. They don’t have any insider information into the company's operations, denying allegations of the opposition, particularly made by the Congress, against his company.
Rajesh Exports has been a publicly traded company since 1995. Addressing concerns of LIC shares, Chairman and Managing Director, Rajesh Mehta, in an interview with PTI said, “LIC has not purchased the shares yesterday or last year. LIC's purchases are over a period of time, approximately 20 years. These shares have been taken by LIC from the open market, from the stock market.”
Mehta cleared himself of any involvement in LIC's investment methods. He further said that no Rajesh Exports promoter has sold its shares to LIC, meaning that the company has not directly benefited from the insurance firm's share at all. He further said, “We don't even know where LIC's office is. We have no contact, no connection. This decision of buying shares through the secondary market is their own decision in a prudent commercial manner.”
Rajesh Mehta claims despite his company hitting lower circuits everyday, LIC is still making profit as their investment in Rajesh Exports doesn’t matter in the large scheme of things.
In what Rajesh Mehta called the “most important statement” in the interview, he asked even if LIC lost its investment, who gains from it? According to Rajesh Exports chairman, the deals were all made in the public market and those who sold their shares 20 years ago were also members of the general public, not the company. He said:
If somebody loses, somebody has to gain. Who is the counterpart who has gained? It is the common Indian public. They [LIC] have taken the shares from the common Indian public, who have benefited. What is wrong with that? Are the people who are speaking against this, against the benefit of the common Indian public?
What Mehta describes is a common trading practice in the stock market. However, claiming that the general public has “benefited” from this trade, is misguided.
While LIC continues to be profitable, it is not because of Rajesh Exports. The jewelry refining company has only put a dent in the LIC’s investment. The government-owned insurance company stake which was valued at ₹637 crore at the beginning of 2026 is now at ₹347 crore.
SEBI, as a part of their investigation has put LIC’s conduct under lens, sending the case to National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA). Rajesh Mehta claims they are in the process of providing all the documents and information asked in the SEBI’s interim order and it should be resolved soon.
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