FIR against Sameer Shah of NCDEX

A group of coriander traders in Rajasthan have filed a first information report (FIR) against Sameer Shah, managing director & chief executive officer of National commodity Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), and two other employees of the exchange. In the FIR, the traders allege that there is a significant difference in the price of coriander on the futures and the spot market of the exchange.

The Sriganganagar police has registered the FIR under section 420 and 406 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The traders have also alleged that the exchange have also violated the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act.

When contacted for comment, an NCDEX spokesperson said the exchange "had not yet received an official copy of the FIR, though it had received the information about the FIR from market sources".

The spokesperson said during the current season, the difference between the price of coriander on the futures and physical market had widened due to inferior quality coriander produced and tightening of quality parameters by the exchange.

"In spite of traders incurring additional costs towards cleaning and processing, fresh coriander deposits have failed to meet the quality specifications stipulated by the exchange as per the Foods Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) norms. Consequently, the deliveries on the exchange during the year have been substantially lower as compared to previous years. The exchange later to improve coriander deliveries decided to relax the quality parameters within the FSSAI purview. This has yielded partial results as stock deposits have increased over the past month," said the spokesperson.

Recently, FSSAI, the quality standard regulator for commodities, tightened the quality standards for commodities which are deposited in exchange warehouses.

The difference in price between future and spot price of coriander is currently at 4.1 per cent. The near-term futures price of dhaniya on Friday closed at Rs 11,777 per tonne, while the spot price of dhaniya stood at Rs 11,313.50 per tonne. In July, the difference in the spot and future prices went as high as 10.6 per cent, as the futures price of dhaniya was at Rs 11,936 per tonne while the spot price of the commodity was Rs 10,791.65 per tonne.