Bombay HC refuses to grant relief to FTIL

In a setback to Financial Technologies Ltd (FTIL), the Bombay high court on Wednesday refused to grant it ad-interim relief from Mumbai police’s Economic Offences Wing’s (EOW) assets attachment notice and posted its application challenging the notice for hearing on Monday.

Senior counsel Ravi Kadam on behalf of FTIL mentioned the matter before the division bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Amjad Sayed and requested the court to grant ad-interim stay on the attachment notice issued by EOW.

Advocate Kadam contended before the court that a police officer does not have the power to issue notice of assets attachment. He also said that another bench of the high court last year had stayed a similar order issued by EOW.

The bench, however, asked the petitioner to go before the regular bench (which was hearing this matter), but the lawyer informed the bench that regular bench was not available.

“Is it not a contempt of court’s order because once the notice is stayed you pass the same order without leave of court ” asked FTIL lawyer. He also said that if bank accounts are attached, then cheques issued by the company would bounce and they would face cheque-bouncing case. Advocate Kadam also proposed to give a list of cheques the company had already issued.

On the other hand, EOW’s lawyer opposed the application saying only notice has been issued asking the company not to sell any property or create any third party rights and it would be able to operate its current accounts.

After hearing argument the bench was not convinced to grant any interim relief and deferred the matter for hearing the application on July 25 without granting any stay on EOW’s order.

The EOW on Tuesday seized Rs 2,000 crore of assets belonging to the former FTIL, a week after the arrest of its founder Jignesh Shah in a money laundering case. The assets seized under the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors Act (MPID Act) include the Mumbai headquarters of FTIL.