Both the tickets have been auctioned at over Rs 30 lakh each and are understood to have been purchased by two existing member brokers. The amount will be used to the settle outstanding dues of the members of the stock exchange and investors. "This is one of the rare occasions when the stock exchange has auctioned the ticket of defaulters," said a senior stock exchange functionary.

Both the defaulters had dues running into several lakhs. V Sharan & Company was declared defaulter by the stock exchange in November 1997. The defaulter went to the court and got an ex-parte stay which was later vacated by the Delhi Stock Exchange, said the functionary. The other member wasdeclared a defaulter in 1996.

A three-member claim committee, which was formed at the board meeting on July 8, will assess the various claims and disburse the amount accordingly. The claim committee comprises of M G Bajaj and Ashok Agarwal, broker nominees on the board, and R A Yadav, a public nominee.

According to sources in the broking community, it is a regular practice for the stock exchange to declare member brokers as defaulters for non-rectification of bad deliveries and investor claims.

However, the Delhi Stock Exchange authorities have not been very aggressive in punishing the brokers by auctioning their cards.