NSEL case: Bombay High Court rejects petition of brokers

The Bombay High Court on October 4 dismissed a petition by five brokers in the NSEL case saying that it was a ploy to escape punishment. Motilal Oswal, IIFL, Anand Rathi, Philip Capital and Geofin Comtrade had approached the court after the SEBI last month had refused to allow then to withdraw their applications on the ground that an enquiry was pending against them in relation to the NSEL scam. The brokers told the court that SEBI cannot hold an enquiry against them if they do not want to register themselves as commodities brokers. SEBI's counsel argued that mere withdrawal by applicant doesn't mean that the regulator can't take action. The judges dismissed the petition observing that the petitioners were seeking to withdraw their applications as an afterthought and only wanted to escape the enquiry initiated against them.