₹84 Crore Released to NSEL Settlement Account: Bombay HC Quashes 2015 Proceedings Against 63 Moons [Read Order]

The Bombay High Court has permitted the transfer of ₹84 crore along with accrued interest lying in court deposit to the Settlement Account created under a Scheme of Arrangement approved by the National Company Law Tribunal, Mumbai (NCLT), and quashed criminal proceedings initiated in 2015 with the intention to serve the interests of creditors and investors.

The petitioner, Financial Technologies (India) Limited, now known as 63 Moons Technologies Limited, approached the High Court with a Criminal Writ Petition in 2015 challenging a notice issued by the State authorities concerning the proceedings arising out of the affairs of the National Spot Exchange Limited. During the pendency of the petition, an amount of ₹84 crore was deposited with the Registry of the High Court pursuant to interim orders passed in June 2015.

Subsequently, a Scheme of Arrangement between National Spot Exchange Limited and its specified creditors was placed before the NCLT, which approved the scheme by an order. The tribunal recorded that various proceedings, including criminal proceedings pending before the High Court and the Supreme Court, had been disclosed, and that the Economic Offences Wing and the competent authority under the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (In Financial Establishments) Act, 1999 had supported the scheme subject to reservations.

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Following such approval, the petitioner filed an interim application seeking transfer of the ₹84 crore deposit to the Settlement Account as approved and subsequent disposal of the pending petition.

The Division Bench of Justice Manish Pitale and Justice Manjusha Deshpande allowed the interim application and disposed of the criminal writ petition, noting that the NCLT had approved the Scheme of Arrangement after taking into account the pendency of civil and criminal proceedings and had specifically envisaged applications being made before appropriate courts to give effect to the scheme.

The Court held that the present application was one such application contemplated by the tribunal’s order. The Bench observed that permitting the transfer of ₹84 crore with accrued interest to the Settlement Account would facilitate implementation of the approved scheme and substantially address the grievances of creditors and investors.

As such a course would be in the interest of justice and in furtherance of settlement of outstanding claims, the Court quashed the impugned 2015 notice, and directed the Registry to transfer the deposited amount to the Settlement Account within the stipulated period. Resulting,, the writ petition and all connected applications were disposed of.

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