The Bombay High Court will tomorrow hear a fresh PIL seeking transfer of a probe by Mumbai police into the alleged Rs 5,500-crore scam involving National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL) and Jignesh Shah, to CBI.
The PIL filed by activist Ketan Tirodkar argues that since the scam has national and international ramifications only CBI has the necessary jurisdiction to probe this matter.
The NSEL case pertains to alleged financial embezzlements by the Multi-Commodity Exchange (MCX) and the Financial Technologies India Ltd (FTIL)--both promoted by Shah.
The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police is currently probing the case.
Though a bunch of PILs were filed in the high court, Tirodkar's PIL would come up for hearing tomorrow.
The petition alleged those arrested so far like Nilesh Patel, a major borrower, and three employees of NSEL, including 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 benefitted by the NSEL-MCX-FTIL triangular operations", according to the PIL.
During the market stint of MCX, NSEL and FTIL, Shah launched many international platforms (Bourses and Trading companies) in tax-heavens, 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.
