New Delhi/ Bangalore, April 18, 2014: The case filed by the Fixed Income Money Markets and Derivatives Association (FIMMDA) to stall the CBI probe ordered by the Hon’ble Orissa High Court against 22 erring banks in the forex derivatives transactions of 2007-08 scheduled to come for hearing in the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India on April 11, 2014 has yet again been postponed and is now posted for 9th December 2014 as per the latest Advance Cause list published in the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India website.
The impleadment petition of the Forex Derivatives Consumers Forum comprising of exporters from across the country who were sold the ‘exotic’ derivative products by banks along with the final hearings on the case are expected to come up for hearing before the SC bench on the said date.
“The final hearing and arguments of the counsel of the impleaded parties are expected to be heard during this hearing. We therefore expect substantial arguments to be presented regarding the case details something that has not happened in earlier hearings on the matter. †apprises S Dhananjayan, Chartered Accountant and Advisor to the Forex Derivatives Consumers’ Forum. “We hope to see the beginning of the end of this heinous white collar crime committed, as per the CBI and RBI, through flagrant violation of the extant FEMA act and RBI guidelines, on the small and gullible exporters of the country.â€
It may be noted that the Hon’ble Orissa High Court had passed a judgment on Dec 24, 2009 in response to a PIL filed by an economist, Pravanjan Patra, ordering a CBI enquiry against 22 banks who were involved in selling exotic forex derivative products to exporters in 2007-2008.
“In a preliminary report to the court, CBI had gathered data from the Reserve Bank of India that 11 banks had unrealized dues from customers of Rs 755.45 crore between April 2007 and December 2008, while the gross mark-to-market (revaluing assets at their current values) losses of the customers of 22 banks were Rs 31,719 crore between 2006 and 2008,†informs Dhananjayan.
Further to the same, the FIMMDA had approached the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Feb 2010 urging a stay on the CBI probe.
The Apex Court had ordered an interim stay on the probe. Subsequently there have been several hearings. The interim stay ordered by the Apex Court continues till the next hearing, which is now coming up on December 9, 2014.
