NSEL Scam: Jignesh Shah Remanded In Enforcement Directorate Custody

Mumbai: A court here on Wednesday remanded Financial Technologies India Ltd (FTIL) founder Jignesh Shah, arrested in the Rs 5,600-crore National Spot Exchange Limited scam, in the custody of the Enforcement Directorate till July 18.

The Enforcement Directorate had on Tuesday arrested Mr Shah under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), saying that he was not cooperating with the investigation.

Mr Shah has been named in the first charge-sheet filed by the ED in the case last year.

ED's lawyer Hiten Venegaonkar argued that new material had come to light indicating that Mr Shah indulged in money laundering. Therefore, ED intended to file a fresh complaint of money laundering for which it needed his custody for eight days, he said.

Advocate Abad Ponda, Mr Shah's lawyer, opposed the plea for ED custody saying Mr Shah had been earlier arrested in the NSEL case and later granted bail. The investigation was over and the facts which may have come to light are not new.

Mr Shah had spent more than 100 days in custody and was granted bail by the High Court, Mr Ponda pointed out.

However, the ED lawyer said that Mr Shah did not answer several questions during the interrogation and the investigation officer stopped questioning him. For further probe, his custodial interrogation was necessary.

Mr Ponda cited a Supreme Court judgement saying that a suspect cannot be compelled to answer questions which may incriminate him/her.