NSEL-FTIL merge case adjourned to December 22

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court has adjourned the NSEL-FTIL merger matter till December 22, giving the government time till then to file its reply on why the amalgamation should go through. This means the government’s draft order to merge NSEL with FTIL cannot be implemented until the date of the next hearing.

Earlier, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, counsel for FTIL, argued that Section 396 of the Companies Act, 1956, had been used a maximum of four times for amalgamating government companies and that too with their consent. In the present case two private companies were sought to be merged and that too without their consent, which was unprecedented.

The government on the recommendation of commodity market regulator FMC passed a draft order to merge NSEL with FTIL last month in public interest. Over 13,000 investors have been hit by the Rs 5,600-crore NSEL scam, which surfaced in July last year.