On 23 October 2026, SEBI, India's market regulator, signed a 171-page final order against Avadhut Sathe Trading Academy and its founder, Avadhut Sathe. It tells them to refund Rs 546.17 crore to people who paid for their courses. A crore is 10 million rupees, so that is about 5.5 billion rupees. It also bans them from the securities market for at least two years. SEBI says the paid programmes and WhatsApp groups gave stock advice without the licence the law requires. The academy says it teaches and does not advise, and one outlet reports that it will appeal.

The Week put "dancing finfluencer" in a December 2025 headline about Sathe and said a 2023 video of him dancing during a trading session had gone viral. The label is the media's. The order itself uses neither word.

Why should a trader care, wherever they live? Because the case is about a line that almost every trading school walks. When does a lesson with live trades turn into advice? If a mentor shares entries, targets and stop losses inside a paid course, this order shows how one regulator reads that.

Quick timeline

Rows up to December 2025 show what SEBI said or did before it heard the academy. The later rows are decisions or reports.

Date What happened Where it is recorded
1 March 2024 SEBI sends the academy an administrative warning about showing only profitable student trades (SEBI's account) Final order, paragraph 2.1
24 July 2025 SEBI appoints an investigating authority Final order
20 to 21 August 2025 Search and seizure at the premises of the three noticees, authorised by a special court Final order
4 December 2025 Interim order and show-cause notice. SEBI says, without a hearing and on a first look, that rules were broken. About Rs 546 crore is impounded Final order
19 December 2025 The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) admits the academy's appeal and gives limited interim relief LiveLaw
22 January 2026 SAT keeps the interim order but cuts the deposit to Rs 100 crore LiveLaw, final order
16 March 2026 The Supreme Court is reported to leave the SAT order alone and allow Rs 2.25 crore a month for running costs LiveLaw
17 March to 13 October 2026 Four hearings before SEBI's decision-maker (17 March, 6 April, 24 April, 13 October) Final order
23 October 2026 Final order, signed in Mumbai by N. Murugan, SEBI's quasi-judicial authority SEBI
28 October 2026 One outlet reports the academy will challenge the order before SAT Whalesbook

What does the final order tell them to do?

The order names three parties: the academy (a private limited company), Avadhut Dinkar Sathe, and Gouri Avadhut Sathe, a director of the company. The money part looks like this.

Direction Who Amount or term
Refund of course fees, paid jointly Academy and Avadhut Sathe Rs 546.17 crore within five months
Interest at 12% a year (simple), paid into SEBI's investor protection fund Academy and Avadhut Sathe Rs 67.87 crore
Penalties, due in 45 days Academy Rs 6 crore, Avadhut Sathe Rs 4 crore, Gouri Sathe Rs 1.5 crore Rs 11.5 crore in total
Market ban Academy and Avadhut Sathe Two years from the order, or until the refund is complete, whichever is later
Market ban Gouri Sathe Six months

There is more. Bank accounts stay frozen except to pay the refund. The academy and Sathe may not sell assets, except to fund refunds. Within 30 days they must publish a notice in two national newspapers (one English, one Hindi) and one local paper, explaining how to claim a refund. Any balance that cannot be refunded goes into a SEBI escrow account for a year, for claims from other customers, and then to the investor protection fund. They must also stop giving unregistered advice and stop using live or past market data to show the future direction of a named stock.

The order says Gouri Sathe did not give advice herself. It holds her responsible as a director and does not make her repay the refund.

Where does the Rs 546.17 crore come from?

The academy collected Rs 601.38 crore in fees since 2015, according to the order. SEBI did not count all of it. It counted the courses where it had direct evidence, from 2020 to 2025. The flagship programme, GEO, accounts for Rs 423.49 crore of the total. A mentorship programme adds Rs 39.08 crore, and six smaller courses make up the rest.

Why does SEBI treat a course as an advice service?

SEBI's argument has three steps. First, it says the evidence shows specific stock calls: recordings and WhatsApp chats with entry and exit levels, stop-loss levels, price forecasts, and Sathe's own live positions shared during sessions. Second, access to some WhatsApp groups needed an annual fee, which the order treats as payment for the service. Third, the order says the teaching and the calls cannot be separated. A chart explanation that ends in a view on one stock is part of the advice, even if nobody says "buy".

The order also answers the "they are students" defence. It says a recommendation can sway a decision even when it arrives during a lesson, and calling the listener a student does not lower the risk of acting on it. It adds that trust in a mentor may make people act more readily, which is why registered advisers must follow rules on suitability and conflicts of interest.

SEBI's argument is narrower than "teaching is illegal". It says specific recommendations, sold for a fee, need registration even when they come inside a course.

What did SEBI find about the success-story videos?

The interim order said the academy published student testimonials showing big profits, while exchange records showed those students had net losses. The final order went through five of those videos one by one, and it did not accept all of SEBI's earlier numbers.

In two cases it ruled that the allegation was not established. In one, the earlier calculation had left out options that expired worthless, so the profit figure was incomplete. In the other, a corrected figure for one futures contract turned an alleged loss into a profit of about Rs 6.29 lakh (a lakh is 100,000).

In the other three, the order found the claim did not match the records. One video said a student earned more than a salary every month, but the account showed an overall loss for the period. One said a profit of Rs 2.5 lakh, against a recorded net loss of Rs 13,256.85. One said Rs 43.2 lakh in profit and added that the figures were verified, against a recorded loss of about Rs 5.58 lakh. The order says the student consent forms prove permission to use a story, not that the numbers are true.

The interim order had also said Sathe's own trading was in net loss. The final order says he disputes this, and that it does not rule on the point because no specific allegation was made about it.

What the other side says

The academy has not stayed silent. The order records its replies and four hearings, and the main points are these.

  • The courses are education. Students trade through their own broker accounts, at their own risk, and disclaimers say so.
  • Charts and live demonstrations are teaching examples, not recommendations.
  • About 63,000 students took part, and SEBI received 15 complaints, which the academy puts at about 0.02%.
  • The WhatsApp groups were not a subscription service.
  • The academy says nobody told it where the line between education and advice sits, and that SEBI's circular of 29 January 2025 should not be applied to earlier conduct.
  • An interim order that freezes money before a hearing is unfair and out of proportion.
  • It has stopped live market training under the interim directions.

SEBI answers in the order that its decision rests on the Investment Advisers and Research Analysts rules, not on the circular, and that the academy was given inspection of the material.

After the interim order, the academy told the tribunal it denies wrongdoing, calls its courses purely educational, and says SEBI knew of its activities since 2020. After the final order, Whalesbook reported on 28 October that the academy's legal representatives will go to SAT. That report names no spokesperson. We did not find a filed appeal or a stay as of 30 October 2026.

What traders can take from it

Many courses sit close to this line, so a few habits help.

  1. Check the register before you pay. SEBI's own investor warning says to deal only with registered intermediaries and to be wary of promised returns. Outside India, use your local regulator's public register.
  2. Save the paperwork on the day you buy. Keep a dated screenshot of the course page, the brochure, the disclaimers, the fee receipt and the invitation to any WhatsApp or Telegram group. If a refund process ever opens, dated records are what you show.
  3. Ask what is behind a testimonial. SEBI's test was plain: compare the claim with the exchange profit-and-loss record for the same dates. The number that counts is net P&L, not the best trade.
  4. Tag the trades that came from someone's call. Note the entry, the stop loss and whether you followed the call as given. After 50 trades, compare those with your own ideas. A journal built from your own broker data settles the argument about what you actually traded and how the calls performed. The basics are in how to keep a trading journal.

Frequently asked questions

What did SEBI's final order of 23 October 2026 decide?

It found that the academy and Avadhut Sathe gave investment advice and research without registration, and used misleading promotion. It directs a refund of Rs 546.17 crore plus Rs 67.87 crore interest, Rs 11.5 crore in penalties, and market bans. These are SEBI's findings in an order that can still be challenged.

Was Avadhut Sathe convicted of a crime?

No. This is a regulatory order from SEBI, not a verdict from a criminal court. We found no criminal case in the documents and reports we read.

Can the order be appealed?

Yes. SEBI orders can be taken to the Securities Appellate Tribunal, and the academy already used that route against the interim order in 2025 and 2026. The order itself says it is subject to judicial orders. One outlet reports an appeal is planned, and we could not confirm that one has been filed.

Will students get their money back?

The order requires a refund through a dedicated bank account within five months, and a public notice that explains how to claim. Watch for that notice if you took part in the covered programmes. The notice must give the claim process and a contact person. The outcome can change if a tribunal steps in.

Is it illegal to teach trading in India?

The order goes after paid, stock-specific recommendations, not teaching as such. It says those need SEBI registration even when they come inside a course. Teaching general methods is a different activity, though the order also tells the academy to stop using live or past data to point to the future move of a named stock.

Sources

This post is based on public sources as of October 30, 2026. Found a mistake? Write to info@setupbook.io.