High court quashes attaching of 63 Moons’ properties DILIP KUMAR JHA

The high court here quashed the Maharashtra government’s move to attach properties worth ~3.2 billion of 63 Moons Technologies (formerly Financial Technologies India or FTIL) in the ~56-billion payment default case of 2013 at its now defunct subsidiary, National Spot Exchange (NSEL).

The court stayed various notifications issued in April this year, attaching 63 Moons' properties and bank accounts. In particular, the attachment of ODIN software and its receivables. The court also stayed portions of a notification of last month, ensuring 63 Moons will continue to receive periodically accruing benefits on investments.

“It’s a major relief for thousands of employees. Money will now start flowing in to meet day-to-day and future expenses,” said Abad Panda, legal counsel for 63 Moons.

In the 2013 default, around 13,000 investors in NSEL claimed to have lost their money — fund trails were found with 23 defaulters. Panda argued at the court that none of the defaulters' bank accounts had been attached, despite the entire money trail being established. And, with ~80 bn of assets being attached, that freezing and attaching of 63 Moons’ salary accounts and ODIN intellectual property was undue harassment and strangling of the company.

“This order has tied our hands and feet, making us unable to fight for justice. Day-to- day legal expenses need to be borne by the company from operational accounts. Else, we would not be able to protect the rights of our nearly 1,000 employees and 59,000 shareholders. Freezing the operational accounts would not help EOW (the police wing in question) to recover the money from the defaulters,” had earlier said S Rajendran, managing director of 63 Moons.

In September 2016, the EOW had attached ~18-bn worth of financial investments by 63 Moons. Income interest from these assets was deposited in three bank accounts. The EOW had recommended attaching these; also, the ODIN software's IPR and its receivables. This was then notified by the Maharashtra government. ODIN is a financial services trading software, with around 80 per cent of market share in equity, currency and commodities.

In the 2013 default, around 13,000 investors in NSEL claimed to have lost their money — fund trails were found with 23 defaulters