SC dismisses SLP in 63 Moons assets case, asks HC to close it

The Supreme Court has dismissed the Special Leave Petitions (SLP) of NSEL Investor Action Group (NIAG) and the Maharashtra government, declining to interfere with the Bombay High Court order of releasing assets of 63 Moons (formerly known as FTIL) attached under the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (MPID) Act.

The attachments of 63 Moons' assets were done through the notifications issued by the Maharashtra government in April 2018 under the MPID act.

Terming the state government's action prima facie "excessive, arbitrary and unreasonable", the Bombay High Court on October 24 last year passed an interim order staying the attachment of the company's assets under the MPID Act, which included bank accounts and properties.

The interim order stayed the attachment of ODIN software, its receivables and also stayed a corrigendum issued whereby accrued returns on investments will become available to 63 Moons.

As a result, the Company was allowed to receive periodically accrued benefits on its investments.

The Bombay High Court had observed that various government agencies, including the EOW-Mumbai and Enforcement Directorate, had attached properties worth over Rs 8,500 crore owned by the defaulters, promoters and former employees of NSEL till November 2017 as against a defaulted amount of Rs 5,600 crore.

This order was challenged by the State of Maharashtra and the NIAG in the Supreme Court and the matter was heard on Monday. Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi represented 63 Moons technologies while NIAG was represented by senior advocate Shyam Diwan.

After hearing the arguments of both sides, the Supreme Court held that it was not inclined to interfere with the order of the Bombay High Court.

The Supreme Court stated that since this was a matter of importance, it was requesting the Bombay High Court to conclude the final hearing in February itself.

--IANS

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