The Supreme Court on Monday refused to grant bail to stockbroker Hiten Dalal and some other accused in the securities scam case.

Dalal was convicted by a special court in Mumbai and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment for defrauding institutions and investors to the tune of Rs 105 crore (Rs 1.05 billion).

The bench, comprising Justice M B Shah and Justice A R Lakshmanan, said that considering the nature of the offence and the sentence awarded to them, there is no question of granting bail at this stage.

However, the court, which had admitted the statutory appeal filed by Dalal and others, gave them liberty to move a fresh bail application in case their appeal was not heard expeditiously.