A bench headed by Justice P V Hardas asked the petitioner to make NSEL a respondent and asked the latter to file a reply. The matter has been posted after two weeks.
The PIL filed by activist Ketan Tirodkar argued that since the scam has national and international ramifications, only CBI has the necessary jurisdiction to probe this matter.
He said the NSEL case pertains to alleged financial embezzlements by Multi-Commodity Exchange (MCX) and Financial Technologies India Ltd (FTIL)--both promoted by Jignesh Shah.
"This attempt to project the mastermind of the scam as a victim of conspiracy by his employees and borrowers is an outcome of the pressure of vested interests in the corridors of power who have been benefited by the NSEL-MCX-FTIL triangular operations", according to the PIL.
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During the market stint of MCX, NSEL and FTIL, Shah launched many international platforms (Bourses and Trading companies) in tax-havens, namely Mauritius, Botswana in Africa, Singapore and in Middle-east nations such as Dubai and Bahrain, to take advantage of the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement [DTAA] signed by India as a member of a Consortium of multiple nations, the PIL alleged.
In reality, there were no payment schedules honoured and it was a financial market gimmick to avoid paying taxes in India, the PIL contended.
It further argued that Mumbai EOW has not yet sent any team abroad for interacting with the market regulators in these nations as well as the tax authorities. Letters Rogatory (to seek information from foreign countries about Shah's entities) also were not dispatched for a long time.