Chary denies any link to NSEL scam

Says 'vested interests defeated in competition' trying to get CBI to go after him

After reports of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) also looking at the role of Venkat Chary in the National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL) case, the senior ex-bureaucrat said vested interests were trying to drag his name into the controversy, saying the charge was absurd.

Chary, 71, was an Indian Administrative Service officer. He is now a director on the board of Financial Technologies India Ltd (FTIL). before that, he was non-executive chairman of the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) for a decade; he also held a similar position for about six years at Indian Energy Exchange (IEX), also promoted by the FTIL group.

He told Business Standard: "There are vested interests who have been consistently defeated in market competition with IEX and MCX, I suspect, who are behind the unfair dragging of my name."

Last week, CBI had registered a First Information Report in the NSEL scam. It has so far engulfed officials of a public sector unit, Projects and Equipment Corporation (PEC), the former managing director of NSEL, its borrowers and some others. CBI is also interrogating Jignesh Shah, whose company, FTIL, promoted it. The CBI case was for allegedly causing a loss of Rs 120 crore to PEC on the pretext of investments through the exchange.

Venkat Chary's name has been floating since Wednesday evening in this connection. He said: "I was never involved in any manner whatever in the NSEL matter. I intend to get to the bottom of this by asking CBI how they have mentioned my name in public forums as being involved in the matter."

He indicated he could file civil and criminal charges against anybody doing so.

NSEL defaulted for Rs 5,574 crore last August. The city police and the Union government's enforcement director are investigating.

Chary becomes the second senior ex-bureaucrat in four days to challenge a CBI move. C B Bhave, former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), has said CBI must apologise if it cannot prove any charge against him.

CBI had registered a preliminary inquiry against him and K M Abraham, a former member of Sebi, for granting a licence to MCX-SX, a stock exchange floated by FTIL and MCX in 2008. CBI had noted FTIL had been raided earlier by the I income tax department and, hence, the finance ministry had felt it was not fit to hold a stake in any stock exchange; yet, it was issued a licence and, later, given extensions.