 "NSEL")
Around 250 members of the NSEL Investors Forum (NIF), the representative body of the 13,000 aggrieved investors of the National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL), protested outside the office of the economic offences wing (EOW) of the Mumbai police on Tuesday, demanding speeding of the recovery of dues from the borrowers within a time frame.
Himanshu Roy, joint commissioner, crime, assured protesters the EOW had acted against the borrowers and the officials of the NSEL, apart from freezing their assets. Roy had told media persons on Monday the investors would get their money before Diwali. Roy said the seized property was Rs 5,600 crore. So, the investors would get their money with interest, he added.
“The EOW has chalked a course of action for looking deeper into the money trail. We will summon Jignesh Shah (promoter and director of NSEL) once again for interrogation,” an official said.
In a letter to him, Arun Dalmia, secretary, NIF, said, “The EOW should help urge borrowers for higher upfront payments and also limit the time frame of the agreement.”
He said Mohan India, one of the largest borrowers with Rs 771-crore dues, should be asked to honour its settlement commitment so that it would send a positive signal. Mohan India’s two cheques of Rs 50 crore had bounced and the EOW, according to Roy, had threatened legal proceedings against its promoter.
The protesters shouted slogans against the borrowers who, they said, had been casual in their approach. Some have been sending their representatives and criminal lawyers instead before the police for investigations in response to summons.
The letter did not demand any arrests and legal proceedings. Dalmia urged EOW to include the NSEL brass in the settlement process with borrowers, to fix their unified accountability. He urged EOW to appoint a strong public prosecutor to fight the experienced counsels hired by the borrowers and ex-officials of NSEL.
A sessions court judge had commented on the inexperience of the public prosecutor appearing before him, the letter said. Dalmia alleged the borrowers had been delaying the settlement process amid expectations of a substantial haircut which should not be allowed. It is therefore important that EOW should initiate strict measures and force the borrowers/ defaulters to come forward, settle their dues who are left with endless wait for recovery of their hard earned money, it added.
