- F&O trader from Mumbai made Rs 1.75 crore profit in 20 minutes using wrongly credited margin
- Kotak Securities credited Rs 40 crore margin money due to a technical glitch in its system
- Bombay HC ruled trader's profits from mistakenly credited funds cannot be called unjust enrichment
In a unique incident, an F&O trader from Mumbai ended up making a profit of around Rs 1.75 crore in 20 minutes after he used accidentally credited trade margin money for trading.
An amount of Rs 40 crore was received by the trader after the broker, Kotak Securities, suffered a technical glitch on their end. The amount was then put in to F&O trade by him.
When the broker made an appeal in court for the profit, the Bombay High Court ruled that any profits made by a stock trader by using mistakenly provided trade margin money due to a tech glitch in the broker's system cannot be treated as 'unjust enrichment'.
The order was originally passed on Dec. 3, 2025 and was referred to the HC on Dec. 24 to pass an interim judgement on the matter in question.
However, Bombay High Court accepted to hear appeals by Kotak Securities and adjourned next hearing to Feb. 4, 2026. Till then, it said the interim judgment will be upheld and the F&O trader can keep the sum earned.
"Post the matter on 4th February 2026. Till then the interim order granted by the learned Single Judge under paragraph 35 of the judgment delivered in Commercial Arbitration Petition No.788 of 2024 shall continue", the HC stated.
While hearing the matter, the court observed that the trader earned profit utilising his own skills and risk assessment after discovering that there was margin money available, and therefore the profit belongs to him.
Kotak Securities, on the other hand, argued that any profit derived from the erroneously credit margin of Rs 40 crore belongs to them.
In its counter, the HC highlighted that the credited money did not lead to profits by default and also pointed out that the trader had initially suffered a loss of Rs 54 lakh, and thereafter made a profit of Rs 2.38 crore, leading to a net profit of Rs 1.75 crore.
Bombay High Court underscored that, Kotak Securities had not suffered any loss due to the accidentally credit trade money and therefore should not unjustly get to keep the profits earned by the trader through his own skills and risk-taking abilities.
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