New Delhi: Government today (March 31, 2004) said market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) would probe into the issue of over-allotment of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) shares to retail investors to find out if there was any "culpable mistake" and to determine as to who should bear the consequent losses.

"If the responsibility is to be fixed, we will. It is not under the cover of collective responsibility that anyone can escape," Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie told reporters, adding that 52 high net worth individuals were over-allotted three lakh ONGC shares following the public offer.

As many as 12 of these investors had volunteered to surrender the excess allotment and it was for SEBI to probe and decide on over allotment of one lakh shares to the remaining 40 retail investors, he said.

Declaring that the entire public offer process for sale of 10 per cent equity in ONGC was completed as the proceed of Rs 10,542 crore was deposited in the Government account earlier in the day, Shourie said, "The entire issue (over-allotment) has been happily resolved and behind us."

Indicating that no issue would be made if over allotment was due to an error, Shourie said that it was for SEBI to find out whether the registrar or lead manager was responsible for the goof-up and if it was a culpable mistake.

Shourie, however, virtually differed with his secretary Dhirendra Singh who said that entire issue was a "team effort" and "today we are not going to point finger".