NSEL scam: Jignesh Shah files fresh bail plea in HC

Jignesh Shah the MCX promoter arrested for his alleged role in the Rs 5,000 crore National Stock Exchange Ltd (NSEL) scam, has moved the Bombay high court challenging a recent special court order rejecting his bail plea.

Advocate Aniket Nikam, through whom he filed the bail application, said, "We have challenged the order of the special court refusing to grant bail on grounds that investigations are still on. The plea will come up for hearing in due course of time."

On June 24, Judge D P Surana, while hearing cases under the Maharashtra Prevention of Investors Deposits Act, had rejected Shah's bail. Shah has challenged the grounds on which his bail has been rejected.

He contended that after his arrest in the NSEL case on May 7, he had helped the investigating agency by supplying all documents and disclosing all information within his knowledge. So, there was no question of tampering with evidence or hampering the probe as had been held by the trial court.

Moreover, Shah argued that he was not involved in the alleged scam as he was a non-executive director of NSEL, and was not involved in its day-to-day operations.

Shah had come under the scanner of the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) and other agencies last year when NSEL, part of the Financial Technologies (India) Limited founded by Shah, faced a payment crisis as nearly 18,000 of its investors allegedly lost millions of rupees.

Recently, the high court granted bail to three employees of NSEL: former chief executive officer and managing director Anjani Sinha and former assistant vice-presidents Amit Mukherjee and Jai Bahukhandi.