63 Moons Tech freezes in 10% upper circuit as company wins MPID case

Shares of 63 Moons Technologies were locked in the upper circuit band of 10 per cent at Rs 116 apiece on the BSE on Friday after the Bombay High Court struck down the Maharashtra government’s order for attaching properties worth Rs 2,500 crore in a National Spot Exchange (NSEL) scam case.

“NSEL is not a financial establishment within the purview of the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (MPID) in Financial Establishments Act (under which attachment was made). Hence, we decline the prayer (of the state)," the Bench of judges Ranjit More and Bharati Dangre observed. The judges also rejected the state's plea for a stay on their order.

The HC had held that as the NSEL did not accept any deposits, it could not be considered as a financial establishment under the MPID Act. The court held that NSEL was a commodities exchange where commodities were traded between willing buyers and sellers acting through their brokers. The HC also observed that, “the EOW finding the entire money trail to the defaulters, the State attached properties of 63 Moons, which was not legally sustainable”, said a Business Standard report.

The IT company was caught in a Rs 5,600-crore payment default case unearthed in 2013. In April 2018, the Maharashtra government had issued several notifications and orders to attach property worth Rs 2,500 crore, including reserves of around Rs 1,800 crore in several bank accounts.

In past three trading days, the stock has outperformed the market by surging 27 per cent in otherwise weak market. In comparison, the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex was down 2.4 per cent during the same period.