The Bombay High Court today reserved its order until tomorrow on the bail plea of MCX promoter Jignesh Shah, arrested in the Rs 5,000-crore NSEL scam.
Presence of a large number of investors in the courtroom caused a bit of commotion today, with some of them saying "no bail to Shah". Justice Abhay Thipsay reprimanded them, and warned them not to make noise when the order would be pronounced tomorrow.
Shah has challenged the order of the trial court refusing him bail.
The lower court, on June 24, rejected Shah's bail plea on the ground that investigation was still on and he could tamper with evidence or hamper the probe if released.
Advocates Mahesh Jethmalani and Aniket Nikam, Shah's lawyers, argued that he had played no role in the scam, in which his employees might have been involved, as he personally had no knowledge of what was happening.
A group of investors has also approached the court opposing bail to Shah.
As per Shah's lawyers, after his arrest on May 7, he helped the investigating agency, Mumbai police, by supplying documents and disclosing all the information he had, so there was no question of tampering with evidence.
Shah has also argued that he was a non-executive director of National Stock Exchange Ltd, and was not involved in its day-to-day operations.
Shah came under the scanner of Economic Offences Wing of Mumbai police and other agencies last year when NSEL, part of the Financial Technologies (India) Limited group founded by him, faced a payment crisis as nearly 18,000 of its investors allegedly lost millions of rupees.
