The Bombay High Court today allowed two weeks time to National Spot Exchange Ltd to intervene in a PIL seeking transfer of probe by Mumbai Police to CBI into the alleged Rs 5,500-crore scam.
A bench headed by Justice P V Hardas accepted an application filed by petitioner Ketan Tirodkar contending that NSEL should not be made a respondent in the PIL and instead it may be asked to intervene.
The PIL filed by activist 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.
The petition alleged that those arrested so far like Nilesh Patel, a major borrower and three employees of NSEL, including former CEO Anjani Sinha, were mere "pawns in the game" while concerted efforts were made to project Shah, the alleged mastermind in the fraud as a "victim".
"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," the PIL stated.
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.
