ROOP KISHOR BHOOTRA Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) On 30/9/2013, Pankaj Ramnaresh Saraf, Director of Vostak Far East Securities Pvt Ltd, Company involved in the business of investment, trading and financing, filed a complaint against the Directors and other persons holding key management post in National Spot Exchange Limited (for short 'NSEL'), a Company incorporated under the Companies Act, 2013, being a wholly owned subsidiary of Financial Technologies (India) Ltd, at the relevant time, known as '63 Moons Technologies Ltd'. The complaint also involved 25 borrowers/trading members and some brokers of NSEL and it invoked offence punishable u/s. 120B, 409, 465, 468, 471, 474 and 477A of Indian Penal Code, 1860. The complainant made a grievance that he had primarily been transacting in T + 2 + T + 25 contracts and since NSEL suspended trading and deferred settlement of all one day forward contract by 15 days, he did not receive payment of Rs.202.00 lakhs that was due to him under various contracts. In addition, he alleged that the commodities were traded by providing 'false' warehouse receipts of 'non-existent commodities' as NSEL held the commodities in warehouses accredited to it as 'trustee' on behalf of the depositors (buyers) and therefore, the misappropriation amounted to criminal breach of trust. In addition, it was also alleged that the Settlement Guarantee Fund has been misused by NSEL.

(2.) The present Appeals revolve around the said case which is pending before the Special Court in form of MPID Special Case No. 1/2014.

(3.) Reciprocating this transaction, was a step initiated on behalf of the buyer, a trading members or his broker, who would input buy orders of a particular commodity and quantity on the NSEL trading platform and pursuant thereto, it would communicate all the trades effected at the end of the day and the obligation report recording the pay-in and delivery obligations would be forwarded to the trading members. NSEL would then debit the trading members designated settlement account for the amount of the buying members pay-in obligations, which would be credited to its settlement account and its Operation Department would inform the Delivery Department of the selling members delivery obligations which would confirm to the Operations Department if the requisite quantity of commodity is available according to the warehouse receipts. After such a confirmation, the Operations Department would release the purchase price to the selling brokers bank account.