NSEL scam: 63 moons to move Bombay HC for defreezing bank accounts

63 moons (earlier FTIL) is set to challenge at the high court here on Thursday the attachment of its bank accounts and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) of its ODIN software.

The attachment orders, from the city police's economic offences wing (EOW), were a consequence of the long series of probes into the Rs 56-billion in payment defaults in 2013 at the National Spot Exchange (NSEL), of which FTIL was the parent entity.

"This order has tied our hands and feet, making us unable to fight for justice. Day-to-day legal expenses need to be borne by the company from the operational accounts. Without which we would not be able to protect the rights of our nearly 1,000 employees and 59,000 shareholders. Freezing the operational accounts would not help EOW recover the money from the 24 defaulters at our subsidiary, NSEL," said S Rajendran, managing director of 63 Moons.

63 moons employees stage a peace march in protest against the recent order of Economic Offence Wing freezing the operational accounts of the company, in Mumbai (Photo: Kamlesh Pednekar)

In September 2016, the EOW had attached Rs 18-billion worth of financial investments by 63 Moons. Income interest from these assets was deposited in three bank accounts. The EOW had recommended attaching these three accounts; also, the ODIN software's IPR and its receivables. This was then notified by the Maharashtra government. ODIN is a financial services trading software with around 80 per cent of market share in equity, currency and commodities. The attachment order is understood to have been issued on April 4.

To protest at the EOW move, the employees of 63 moons held a demonstration on Wednesday and gave petitions to the chief minister's office and to the commissioner of police.

In all, the EOW and other government agencies have attached movable and immovable assets worth around Rs 85.5 billion, involving the defaulters, 63 moons and others associated with the payment default. These assets are currently in various stages of liquidation.

"Earlier, the court had ordered that its intention for attaching properties is not to hamper the business of the company. The latest action of the EOW contravenes the court's earlier direction," said Rajendran.