The High Court has ordered eight people, accused in two cases over the 1996 stock market scam, to surrender before the trial court.

Justice Md. Rais Uddin gave the order on Tuesday after accepting the market regulators appeals against their acquittals by a special tribunal of the Bangladesh Securities Exchange Commission (BSEC).

The accused are directors of Security Consultants Limited MG Azam Chowdhury, Mohammad Shahidullah and Professor Mahbub Ahmed and directors of HMMS Financial Consultancy and Securities Limited Hemayet Uddin Ahmed, Moshtak Ahmed Sadeq, Syed Mahbub Morshed, Sharif Ataur Rahman and Ahmed Iqbal Hasan.

They have been instructed to surrender within a month after receiving the court’s order.

The High Court, however, said the trail court can hear bail petitions by after they turning themselves in.

In 1997, the stock market regulator prosecuted the eight for share price manipulations.

One Feb 1, the special tribunal acquitted them on the grounds of insufficient evidences.

On Mar 25, the BSEC moved the High Court challenging the trial court’s decision.

“The trial court’s verdict is not based on proper analysis of evidences and witness depositions, so the BSEC seeks the High Court’s order scrapping it,” Deputy Attorney General Shafiul Bashar Bhandary, who represented the state on Tuesday said, told the media.