Mumbai, The Bombay High Court on Friday asked senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram, former Forward Market Commission (FMC) Chairman Ramesh Abhishek and serving bureaucrat K.P. Krishnan to file their statements in the the Rs 10,000 crore damage suit filed by 63 Moons Technologies within four weeks.
The court warned the three that this would be the last extension given to them, as they missed the deadline for the second time.
The bench said that if the three fail to submit the statements within the four-week deadline, it would be considered as an undefended suit.
In October 22, 2019, the Bombay High Court had directed Chidambaram, Abhishek and Krishnan to file their written statements within eight weeks in the Rs 10,000 crore damage suit filed by 63 Moons Technologies Limited.
The court had also rejected the plea of Chidambaram’s counsel for further liberty, saying that eight-week time is more than enough to file the written statements.
In February, 63 Moons had said that it has served legal notice to Chidambaram and two others seeking damages worth Rs 10,000 crore.
The company has alleged that the three individuals played a major role in perpetrating the NSEL payment crisis to destroy the exchange ecosystem created by 63 Moons. As per 63 Moons, it resulted in huge damages, value erosion and loss of employment.
In August, the Bombay HC had ruled that the National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL) was not a financial institution and hence notifications for attachment of the company’s assets, including bank accounts and properties, under the MPID Act stood quashed.
The company has also filed a case against Ramesh Abhishek in Madras High Court, seeking Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) probe into the matter.
During his presentation to the media on the NSEL saga in February this year, 63 Moons mentor Jignesh Shah had said that Abhishek as FMC Chairman played a proactive role in perpetrating the NSEL crisis, destroying the exchange eco-system created by 63 Moons to favour NSE, resulting in huge damage to the shareholders of 63 Moons.
As a result, 63 Moons had filed the damage suit of Rs 10,000 crore against Chidambaram, Krishnan and Abhishek in its individual capacity for taking mala fide actions against the company by abusing their powers.