The Bombay High Court has directed the Centre, Ministry of Finance and the Forward Markets Commission to file a fresh affidavit seeking clarity on the regulation of scam-hit NSEL by October 28.
Observing that the respondents have to and should take a firm stance on the issue, a division Bench comprising Justice S.J. Vazifdar and Justice K.R. Sriram said in case the respondents failed to file the affidavit, then the Court will pass an order the same day. In the last hearing, the court had questioned the role of FMC, the regulator of forwards and futures markets, to clarify whether it has powers and obligation to regulate and supervise NSEL.
To this Kevic Setalwad, Additional Solicitor General of Maharashtra, on behalf of FMC, submitted a letter to the Court stating that FMC falls under the Ministry of Finance and that as NSEL is neither recognised nor registered under Forward Contracts Act, it has a very limited role of supervision on the exchange. The court is hearing the a writ petition filed by two aggrieved investors — Tarun Amarchand Jain HUF and Ketan Shah HUF — against NSEL.