NSEL board Chairman Shankarlal Guru resigns

Says, ‘bad people’ entered bourse, however, refuses to name them

I understand he is my son-in-law, but if he has done the wrong thing, he should be punished for it. I have nothing to do with this. I am being associated with it (NSEL) as I was the board chairman - Shankarlal Guru

New Delhi (Agencies): Shankarlal Guru, the non- executive Chairman the National Spot Exchange (NSEL), has resigned saying some "bad people" have entered the crisis- ridden exchange and were responsible for its woes. Guru's resignation comes on the heels of at least two directors on the five-member board of NSEL quitting as the exchange struggled to clear Rs 5,600 crore payment due.

Ramanathan Devarajan and B D Pawar, non-executive directors have quit, leaving just Jignesh Shah, who owns FTIL, the single largest promoter of NSEL, and Joseph Massey on the board. "I resigned from Board of Directors of NSEL on August 7 as I and (NSEL director) BD Pawar felt that our mission of promoting agriculture marketing is not being followed and there has been such a big scam in the exchange, which is not the right thing. I have nothing to do with this issue," Guru said. The Non-Executive Chairman is not responsible for day to day functioning or running of the exchange. NSEL should be brought out of this crisis and the few "bad people" who have entered the exchange should be punished, Guru, who has been a former MLA from Unjha (Gujarat) added.

"The government has the machinery and it should take the money and return the hard earned money of the investors. There are some bad people in the exchange who should be punished," he said. He, however, refused to name the persons or elaborate on "bad people" entering NSEL.

According to reports, Guru is close associate of Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar. He is also on the board of Centre for International Trade in Agriculture and Agro-based Industries (CITA), an organisation promoted by Pawar, is engaged in lobbying for domestic agri-business industry.

NSEL, promoted by Jignesh Shah-headed FTIL, is facing the problem of settling Rs 5,600 crore dues to 148 members/ brokers, representing 13,000 investor clients, after it suspended trade on July 31 on government direction. On the issue of his son-in-law NK proteins Managing Director Nilesh Patel's involvement in the controversy, Guru said he has not helped him in any way. NK proteins is one of the biggest defaulters with a liability of Rs 929 crore.

"I understand he is my son-in-law, but if he has done the wrong thing, he should be punished for it. I have nothing to do with this. I am being associated with it as I was the board chairman," he said. "I have been serving the people for so many years and I'm in no way related to this crisis. If NK proteins has done wrong, they should be punished," he said.

The other defaulters include: ARK Imports Pvt Ltd, Moil Overseas Foods Ltd, Lotus Refineries Pvt Ltd, and Vimladevi Agrotech Ltd. Income Tax department has initiated investigations and raided the premises of all the clients who have defaulted on payments to the exchange, including NK Proteins and Swastik Overseas

NSE sells over 2% stake in MCX

New Delhi (PTI): National Stock Exchange (NSE) has sold over 2 per cent stake in MCX (Multi Commodity Exchange) in small tranches over past few weeks, even as speculations are rife about a potential buyout of the country's largest commodity bourse by some rival entity or private investors. As per MCX's latest shareholding disclosure, NSE held 12.5 lakh shares or 2.45 per cent stake in the commodity exchange as on June 30, 2012.

Out of this, NSE is believed to have sold more than 12 lakh shares and is left with only a few thousand shares, as it did not see any further value proposition in this long-held investment, sources said. While the details of the sale, which was carried out in small tranches through open market, could not be ascertained, these shares would be worth over Rs 30 crore at current price. The buyers' identity also could not be ascertained. Jignesh Shah-led Financial Technologies (India) Ltd, holds 26 per cent stake in MCX, while other major investors include Fidelity Funds (5 per cent), Passport Capital (4.9 per cent), Aginyx Enterprises (4.79 per cent), NYSE Euronext (4.73 per cent), IFCI (4.79 per cent) and Nabard (3.06 per cent).