Jignesh Shah: Rising Like A Phoneix

by Ankita Sehgal Freelance Blogger, Lives in New Delhi

Slow and steady wins the race. This age-old adage is finally coming to terms with the recent Bombay High Court order which quashed attachment of assets of Jignesh Shah’s flagship company 63 moons technologies in the National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL) case.

The court ruled that NSEL is not a financial establishment and hence notifications for attachment of the company’s assets, including bank accounts and properties under the MPID (Maharashtra Protection of Interests of Depositors in Financial Establishments) Act stand quashed.

The seeds of malice against the exchange, its parent company and Jignesh Shah have been sown so deep that the market regulator and the investigating agencies have refused to look at the other side for the longest time. Needless to say, all lies around the NSEL crisis are being nailed one by one after the recent court orders. In April 2019, the Supreme Court set aside a Bombay High Court judgment approving the merger of crisis-hit NSEL with the parent company, 63 moons, in public interest under Section 396 of the Companies Act.

NSEL, its parent company, and Jignesh Shah were persecuted under the MPID Act despite the said act not being applicable to a markets dispute. This was done under the pressure mounted by brokers backed by the then top ministers in the UPA government and their favourite bureaucrats.

While the assets of NSEL and its promoters were hastily attached under the provisions of MPID, the same brokers cried foul when it was time to taste their own medicine. The NSEL in December 2018 had filed a writ petition before the Bombay High Court, questioning the Maharashtra Government for its inaction against the brokers and trading members in attaching their assets. The court had issued a notice to the state government asking it to seize the assets of the accused brokers.

There has been one-sided war and persecution, in which 63 moons has been conveniently made responsible; all concentrated actions have been directed against it and Jignesh Shah, turning them victims of vendetta. However, Jignesh Shah has continued to fight against his adversaries & always placed utmost faith in the judiciary. It is this belief in truth that is rewarding him now as one after another, his company is winning cases in the courts and justice is knocking on his doors!