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'There is no crisis in the market'

It is very obvious that Deena Mehta, 40, who became the first woman to don the mantle of acting president of the 125-year-old Bombay Stock Exchange on International Women's Day, is not celebrating her super-achievement.

After all, the magnitude of the crisis that faces the nation's bourses currently is formidable enough to snuff out all thoughts of festivity.

The post-budget stock market crash has sent waves of panic sweeping through the nation, and the premier institution of which she is now the interim chief is right in the eye of the storm.

The busy lady spoke exclusively with Sheela Bhatt late on Friday evening about the latest crisis on the bourses.

The latest crisis in the market has shaken up the investors. What do you propose to do so that they regain their confidence?

There is no crisis in the market. There is no need to flee the market. There are enough checks and balances in place. There is no need to panic.

No one is going to suffer. We have a Trade Guarantee Fund of Rs 24 billion. See, this is the stock market. Ups and downs are normal here. A 160-point drop is not a severe fall.

Also, this is not the first time that the market has fallen like this. So why panic?

…Because people fear that someone is manipulating…

I would repeat that a 160-point is not a big fall. You must remember that there are more than 30,000 terminals in the market. More than five people work on each terminal: So you can imagine how huge an operation it is and what large-scale trading takes place everyday.

A few years ago, there were only 1,500 brokers in the trading ring. Today, at any single minute 150,000 people are operating either through the direct screen access or through brokers.

With so many people participating, there is no reason to be afraid of failure. No one man can't influence or manipulate the market which is accessed by over 10 million people.

We have seen the result of the bears vs bulls conflict often. Do you agree that the current crisis is due to one such fight?

The bourses might react to small issues too and may move up or down. I don't think that any fight between the bears and the bulls has affected the market this time.

If the budget was so market-friendly, why do you think did the Sensex crash?

People thought a good budget is now out. But a good budget can also result in players selling their holdings because they discount it in anticipation. I still think that market is so wide that it is impossible for one person to dictate terms here.

Is the Sebi investigating your role?

Ask Sebi. No, the markets regulator is investigating the reason behind the Sensex's fall.

Dalal Street is abuzz with one question: whether you were present in Anand Rathi's office on March 2 -- the Black Friday -- and did you have an access to information which was allegedly received from the surveillance department?

I don't want to talk about it. I have written to the reporter who wrote such irresponsible stuff and I have asked for an apology, failing which I'll file a defamatory suit.

But were you present?

Anand Rathi was the president. We are in the same building. We visit him many times a day. The question to ask is have I misled the market? No, I haven't.

What about the reports..?

I will send a legal notice and I'll tackle that.

Some people believe that Rathi should have resigned from directorship too…

The BSE board and the general body have given him a clean chit. Why should he step down? These is a matter of investigation, let's not talk about this.

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