The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party is making every effort to draw political mileage from the National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL) “scam.” The party had raised the issue in the Rajya Sabha and had alleged that one Central Minister was also involved in the multi-crore scam. The party is now considering legal measures to counter the Centre on the issue.
Senior party leader and Chairman of the Finance Standing Committee of Parliament Yashwant Sinha said the NSEL scam was a big one. “The shocking thing is that the Government allowed it to take place,” Sinha told Business Line . He said ideally, the Finance Ministry should have taken over NSEL. “The Ministry concerned has no experience in dealing with business of this kind and proportion,” he said.
The former Finance Minister said the Centre should have learned lessons from the stock market scams of 1991 and 2002. “No exchange should have been allowed to function without regulation,” he said, and added that “top people” are involved in the scam. “There should be a high-level probe into the scam. The Government should immediately bring in a regulatory mechanism. The NSEL should not be allowed to function in the manner it functions now,” he said.
Sinha said he was not happy with the recent decisions, such as sacking of the senior NSEL officials. “It was done by the Forward Markets Commission under which the NSEL is functioning. So, this action is inadequate. Some body other than the FMC should look into the issue,” Sinha said.
BJP’s treasurer and Rajya Sabha member Piyush Goyal said his party was “extremely concerned” over the developments as a number of small traders had lost their money. He said senior BJP leader Kirit Somayya had also filed a complaint in Mumbai seeking stern action against the persons involved in the scam. “Those who are responsible for misgovernance and possible fraud should be punished,” Goyal said. He said a scam of this scale would not have taken place without the patronage of the UPA’s top leadership.