NSEL case: HC says FTIL’s Shah not a scamster; grants bail
23 Aug 2014
The Bombay high court on Friday granted bail to Financial Technologies (India) Ltd promoter Jignesh Shah, arrested in connection with the alleged fraud of Rs5,547 crore in the National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL).
The investigation has not revealed any link between Shah and the NSEL's shady dealings, a bench headed by Justice Abhay Thipsay said.
''Though projected as a scam of Rs5,600 crore, the ill-gotten money has not gone to the applicant (Shah) or for that matter to NSEL,'' Justice Thipsay said.
Concluding that the money had apparently BEEN pocketed by bogus sellers (generally being termed as borrowers), the judge also allowed Shah to be released on furnishing cash security of Rs5 lakh and granted him two weeks to furnish one or two sureties of the same amount.
The bail is subject to condition that Shah shall remain present before the investigating officer of the Economic Offences Wing of Mumbai police twice a week.
In the 25-page order, the judge further said that though NSEL was supposed to be a spot exchange for trading 52 commodities, no genuine trading appears to have been done there, and instead it was allowed to be used by bogus ''investors'' for making money.