NSEL: Writing facts is not grounds for dismissal

When an adversarial article comes against an entity or a person, it is but natural to feel outraged. You want to shake them and question their viewpoint but you don’t demand their dismissal. That would be similar to shooting the messenger.

I am referring to this objective article by Palak Shah in the Hindu Business Line[1] on Feb 11^th. An excellent summary of the machinations and the shenanigans in various departments and how outcomes are being controlled is the stunning reality of what is India’s Finance industry today.

It is the truth, stupid!

If the article has holes, readers/ twitterati must rebut with facts – not call for the removal of a man, who is turning out to be an excellent journalist. For full disclosure, N Ram of Hindu called my book NDTV Frauds a diseased joke. The book went on to become a bestseller on Amazon Kindle and an update is now out – the point is that the readers have spoken and I am not going to get outraged by his remarks. Anyone is entitled to an opinion but you don’t stray into someone’s personal space. If journalists get fired for writing the truth, it will be a sad day for democracy. Despite my personal opinion of Mr. Ram and his ideology, I still believe that The Hindu has the intellectual gravitas to come out with factual articles (although this is becoming rarer and rarer), to shine a spotlight on the truth. For this, The Hindu Business Line should be commended. And I am sure Palak Shah is not going to be shown the door for this.

The truth about NSEL

I know this is going to draw the ire of some sewer rats but it has to be said – why is Mr. Chidambaram, the sutradhari of many financial scams still roaming free? Who in the current dispensation is making sure that he is untouched? Not one paisa was found to have been misappropriated by Jignesh Shah or the FTIL group in the NSEL scam. Yet his name has been tarnished and his complete company portfolio has been driven into the ground[2]. And now news is emerging that Mr. Shah was right and the brokers were wrong. Will the media eat back the vomit it spewed on Mr. Shah? Where is the objectivity here?

Somnolent SEBI

Some things never seem to change. Even as the Mumbai Economic Offence Wing (EOW) has detailed the charges against brokers, the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has shown the utmost reluctance in calling the brokers’ actions for what they are – not fit and proper. SEBI’s partisan attitude has been documented in detail in my C-Company series; I am not going to belabor the same point again. Why then is this body for the shareholders not doing what it is intended for (to protect the shareholders’ interests)?

Mr. Modi, time to crack the whip

It is election time and timely action on your part to see that people who lost money in the NSEL scam are restored their investments (the money is there – you have to crack the whip). Those who were found to be not fit and proper must be designated so and the full weight of the law must be used to prosecute them for their actions. I am hearing some news that people high up in the government are trying to water down the charges against the errant brokers and let them off with a slap on their wrists – or else, the stock market will have a meltdown. I was proved right about the crude price before and I am sure I will be proved right again here – the Stock market will emerge stronger if one scam is solved under your watch. Restore innocent people their money. You will have the middle class eating out of your hand.

References:

[1] NSEL scam Take 2 – Feb 11, 2019, The Hindu Business Line

[2] C-Company P9 – A long history of harassment – Nov 18, 2017, PGurus.com