Largest defaulter NK Proteins says it is open to settlement

Court extends MD N Patel's police custody till Nov 4, sends Anjani Sinha, ex-MD of NSEL, to judicial custody

N K Proteins (NKP), the largest defaulter of the National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL), has shown interest in settling all issues, including financial settlement with the exchange.

“We have several times in the past urged NSEL to settle the account with a revised figure of dues on us. But, they denied any revision in figures. With due respect to investors, we are open to settle our account with NSEL and ready to pay full amount with interest without any haircut,” said a senior official of NKP on condition of anonymity.

This follows Mohan India Group, a Delhi-based borrower, with Rs 908 crore payment obligations, signing an agreement with NSEL to pay Rs 771 crore for settling their account in one year.

According to NSEL website, the Ahmadabad–based NKP defaulted on its payment obligations of Rs 969.89 crore which followed the arrest of its managing director Nilesh Patel by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the city police last week.

“We have huge property in Gujarat. So, we can shed a portion of that to pay our dues,” he added.

Meanwhile, a court on Thursday extended police custody of Patel until November 4. Patel was arrested by the EOW on October 22 and presented before the court on Thursday. "The EOW has asked us not to settle with the NSEL directly. The Wing is currently investigating all matters, including our correct financial obligations which, we believe, will be ready by November 4. But, we are confident the figure shown by NSEL is much larger than the figure by our assessment," the official added. According to reports, the dues on NKP are Rs 300 crore. The court sent Anjani Sinha, ex-MD and CEO, of NSEL to judicial custody. With this, Sinha, arrested by the EOW and kept in police custody for 14 days after his arrest, would now be able to file bail plea before the court. But, for that, Sinha will have to wait for four days till the next sitting of the court on November 4, after the Diwali vacation.

“The court is now closed for today. We will possibly file our bail application before the court on November 4 at the earliest,” said Sinha.

But his ex-colleagues including Jai Bahukhandi and Amit Mukherjee were not equally lucky. The court granted the two ex-officials of NSEL police custody until November 4. They would not be able to file for bail plea until the court sends them to judicial custody.

“Being the head of NSEL, Sinha was booked under economic offense without specifying any charges on him. The commissioner of Mumbai invoked the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (MPID) Act which attaches his property for monetizing and settling investors’ account in case of deficit without indicating any section. We urge the court to review the MPID invocation,” argued Sinha’s counsel.