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Securities scam -- JPC records evidence against Parekh, Daga

Jayanya Mallick

KOLKATA, Oct. 11

THE Joint Parliamentary Committee probing the securities scam on Tuesday took on record evidence against Mr Kamal Parekh, former Calcutta Stock Exchange President, and Mr K.K. Daga, Vice-President, regarding their ``complicity'' in suppressing crucial in formation for five days.

During the cross examination, Mr Raju Bachawat, one of the 9 CSE directors, told the JPC that he was witness to the incident when the IndusInd Bank official informed Mr Parekh and Mr Daga that some of the high-value cheques, presented by certain brokers to meet their margin obligation for settlement No 148 in March this year, had bounced.

According to JPC sources, this significant revealation, would help the committee to fix responsibilty for alleged manipulations by the elected governing committee members of CSE. Mr Dinesh Kumar Singhania, a former director and associate of Mr Ketan Pare kh, allegedly had rigged and manipulated certain stocks including that of HFCL, in league with Mr Ketan Parekh. (The Securities and Exchange Board of India has already established nexus between Mr Singhania and Mr Ketan Parekh.)

Mr Kamal Parekh and Mr K.K. Daga all along have denied that IndusInd communicated to them regarding the bouncing of cheques, which eventually snowballed into payment crises for three consecutive settlements in March and pushed the CSE into financial dold rums.

The IndusInd Bank officials, who also testified today, have throughout maintained that Mr Parkeh and Mr Daga being two of the three authorised signatories present at the exchange on March 7, were duly informed of the bouncing of cheques.

The JPC, however, feels that the Surveillance Department was also responsible for the serious lapse in finding out the margin positions before the crucial pay-in.

The JPC members also grilled the three nominees of SEBI on the CSE committee. The charges against them were ``dereliction of duty''.

The former CSE committee members may be summoned again, according to JPC sources. Mr Aanad Rathi, former President of Bombay Stock Exchange, along with his colleaques on the board, will also be called for deposition as the JPC could not hear them on Tues day for lack of time.