Jignesh Shah: Discerning Propaganda From Reality

Ace innovator Jignesh Shah, the entrepreneur who founded the iconic Fntech FTIL, had effortlessly torn apart monopolistic regimes and established a democratic market for all investors by way of his innovative exchanges and IP-driven products, is in the news again. 

After the payment default crisis at his subsidiary, the National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL) payment default crisis surfaced in 2013, which he says was a conspiracy by then finance minister, P Chidambaram to favour his pet rival exchange, the NSE, Jignesh Shah is, for the first time, talking about 'what next' since all the lies spread about him and his companies are being nailed in the courts.

It is now emerging clearly that Jignesh Shah and his FTIL group was caught in a web of conspiracy with the intent of causing his downfall. As a result, the premediated NSEL crisis was blown out of proportion and it was alleged that 13,000 traders, who masqueraded as investors, had lost Rs 5,600 crore on NSEL.

Consequently,  unprecedented decisions were taken in haste, without any validated evidence against FTIL, which eventually brought down his exchange empire and destroyed FTIL and Shah’s innovations.  

But as said earlier, after a long wait, facts are coming out in public domain in the form of judicial vindications. Shah who has been besieged in several legal hurdles, is now, finally, gearing up gradually as court orders are quashing actions like the forced merger of his FTIL with NSEL. It is quite evident now that NSEL was not an investment vehicle, but a trading platform for buying and selling plantation and farm commodities and their products. The real culprits behind the crisis are defaulters, brokers and their clients, who masqueraded as investors. However, the law is yet to catch up with them. Only Shah and NSEL have been helping government machinery in the recovery efforts but only time can tell when the genuine victims of the NSEL crisis will get justice.

JIGNESH SHAH: STANDING UNSHAKEN

At a time when innovators across the world were turning towards e-commerce, a man in India was gearing up to take the exchange markets sector by storm. With his vision set on various tech-based innovations, his flagship company, 63 moons technologies limited, was able to prove its mettle in a short span of time.

Mr Jignesh Shah, currently chairman emeritus, 63 moons, through his sustained innovation successfully transformed the face of the Indian financial markets and helped the country realise its ‘Make in India’ even before the government conceptualised it.

However, these efforts went down the drain at the behest of some vested interests who launched a premeditated massive assault on the company and its founder. This assault came out in the form of a Rs 5,600 crore payment default crisis at one of company’s subsidiaries—the National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL).

Fearing company’s rapid growth, the negative forces worked around the corner to bring Mr Jignesh Shah’s empire down. However, the world slowly took note of the six-year-long assault in the form of the two recent court orders. In August 2019, the Bombay High Court quashed attaching assets of Mr Jignesh Shah’s flagship company 63 moons technologies in the National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL) case as it ruled that NSEL was not a financial establishment.

In April 2019, the Supreme Court also set aside a Bombay High Court judgment approving the merger of crisis-hit NSEL with parent company, 63 moons, in public interest under Section 396 of the Companies Act.

Jignesh Shah Shows Resolve To Work For Water Conversation

After more than a decade of battling rivals, star innovator and fintech maverick, Jignesh Shah, is shining again. Finally, it can be said that truth is prevailing and Jignesh shah and his flagship company, 63 moons tech, is getting justice.

As they say, true leaders are always committed to collective aspirations of the societies and nations they come from, and that’s exactly what is happening in Jignesh Shah’s case. Several vested interests tried to single him out Shah by plotting and conspiring against him and they did succeed in their nefarious designs to a large extent but truth has once again proved to be stronger than fiction.

In the changed scenario, when topmost courts of the land are quashing the unwarranted and misplaced actions forced at the behest of his rivals, Jignesh Shah is seen gearing up for his second innings. Shah feels there is a great opportunity in setting up digital ecosystems for helping social sector enterprises raise funds and for products aimed at promoting water conservation.

Jignesh Shah has been quoted as saying that "There is an urgent need to further the causes like water conservation, but my idea is to do them in such a manner that it is commercially viable for all stakeholders rather than making them look like charity work or something that has been forcefully imposed. Given the conducive political environment in place today.”

He is the first entrepreneur/innovator who has shown the vision to turn social causes into financially viable propositions that are carried out by one and all benefitting the entire nation in more ways than one. After all, essential things like water conservation are the need of the hour and hence have to be more than a slogan.

Jignesh Shah: Justice Can Be Delayed But Not Denied

Within a decade, engineer-turned-innovator Jignesh Shah shook the exchange markets and revolutionized it under his strong leadership and in no time successfully rolled out a series of

tech-based innovations. Jignesh Shah’s ability to execute world-class exchange products with unmatched speed and focus, coupled with his innovative IP (Intellectual Property) centric business model gave FT Group, an advantage to deliver exceptional shareholder returns in just a span of 10 years.

Jignesh Shah and his company’s meteoric rise, however, was soon seen as a threat by the monopolistic forces who worked overnight to eliminate him from the exchange business. These vested interests formed a nexus that premeditated a payment default crisis at one of his subsidiaries—the National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL) in 2013.

Jignesh Shah and his flagship company, FTIL, now known as 63 moons tech, was persecuted without a fair trial. Despite enough evidence of the entire money trail being traced to the 24 defaulters and not a paisa to the exchange, its parent company FTIL and to Jignesh Shah, the group was targeted by vested interests who did not want the investigation to move in the direction of the 24 defaulters and their broker godfathers.

However, Jignesh Shah’s faith and confidence in truth and justice did not let him give up on fighting for the truth. This can be validated with two of the recent court orders—the Supreme Court setting aside the forced merger of 63 moons with NSEL in April 2019 and the quashing of the attachment of assets of Jignesh Shah’s company in NSEL case in August 2019. At last, the faces of the true culprits are out in the open. 

The Exchange King now wants to storm the startup space, the pet cause of PM Narendra Modi, since he feels that it is still possible to create as many as 10 crore jobs for young entrepreneurs from out of the start-up space in the next 10 years. All the luck to him!

Jignesh Shah To Help India Generate One Crore Jobs

Renowned innovator Jignesh Shah’s entrepreneurial journey is exciting and inspires a lot of youth across the country, as it is thrilling, challenging and worth taking inspiration from. At present, Jignesh Shah wants to focus this time on a mentoring role and help youngsters with innovative ideas live their entrepreneurship dreams by providing them a platform for "institutionalization, globalization and scaling up" of their ventures.

Now, Jignesh Shah feels that the time has come to start his second inning as court orders are absolving him of all the charges one after another as no agency could prove even a single paisa of money trail to him or to his group and not a single wrongdoing on his part nor on the part of his companies. He senses that all the fabricated lies are being nailed down one after the through the courts.

Jignesh Shah created and nurtured a business that made India the world's second-largest marketplace in commodities trading. He now sees 100 times bigger business potential in the Start-Up ecosystem after having set up 10 exchange companies across 6 continents in a span of 10 years in his earlier stint and feels he can create 10 crore jobs over the next decade for the country’s youth.

He wants to be a coach now and nurture young entrepreneurs by putting in his entire experience and everything he has got to create world-class and world-scale institutions in all verticals. It is amazing to see the real entrepreneur spirit of Jignesh Shah. It is this spirit that makes the youth truly feel that Jignesh Shah is truly committed to "rise like Japan did after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” as he himself likes to say about his company.

A Ray Of Hope For Innovator Jignesh Shah

More than six years after innovator Jignesh Shah’s erstwhile spot exchange NSEL got engulfed in an alleged ₹5,600-crore payment default crisis, Shah saw a ray of hope when huge landmark judgements came in favour of him and his shareholders. Firstly, the Bombay High Court ruled that the NSEL was not a financial establishment and quashed the attachment of assets, including bank accounts and properties, of 63 Moons Technologies, the parent company of Shah-led group which was earlier known as Financial Technologies (FT). Similarly, earlier this year, the Supreme Court also set aside a government order to merge NSEL with 63 Moons which was indeed a huge relief for the company as well as its stakeholders.

Jignesh Shah hailed as the Exchange Man of India, found himself engulfed in a politico-bureawucratic-corporate conspiracy and as a result, he had to exit all his exchange businesses after NSEL crisis. It was projected by the vested interests that Jignesh Shah is fall guy of NSEL crisis. However, the truth was far from different. Only after probe, it was established that not even a single penny of the default amount has been traced to Jignesh Shah and his companies. Despite that Jignesh Shah has been repeatedly harassed and hounded through various executive actions merely based on perceptions.

However, Jignesh Shah’s incredible fighting spirit remains undamaged, as he maintains immense faith in the law of the land and in the unbiased power of judiciary.  Shah believes that it is still possible to resolve the case within 6 months by following the right path to recover the entire amount of Rs. 5,600 crore from defaulters and all genuine claimants can get their full dues. Hope, justice  prevails in the NSEL crisis. 

The Shah With Unending Spirit

In a short span of time, entrepreneur/innovator Jignesh Shah’s flagship company, 63 moons technologies limited has made a mark and has been named as one of the most powerful and influential companies in biz-tech innovations. A global leader in providing next generation technology innovations, platform and solutions for digital markets and marketplaces, the entry of 63 moons into the exchange space brought competition that benefited the stakeholders enormously.

This success, however, was not taken in a positive stride by his competitors who led a one-sided war and persecution, in which 63 moons and its founder were held responsible. For the last six years, the market regulator and the investigating agencies refused to look at the National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL) crisis from a 360 degrees perspective.

However, all the lies are being nailed one after the other with the recent court orders. In April 2019, the Supreme Court set aside a Bombay High Court judgment approving the merger of crisis-hit NSEL with a parent company, 63 moons, in public interest under Section 396 of the Companies Act.

Also, NSEL, 63 moons and Jignesh Shah were persecuted under the MPID Act despite the said act not being applicable to a markets dispute. The NSEL in December 2018 had filed a writ petition before the Bombay High Court, questioning the Maharashtra Government for its inaction against the brokers and trading members in attaching their assets. The high court issued a notice to the state government asking it to seize the assets of the accused brokers. In August, the high court ruled that NSEL is not a financial institution and hence notifications attaching properties under it stand quashed.

A big victory for 63 moons, its employees and stakeholders even as Jignesh Shah continues to fight against his adversaries with his utmost faith in the judiciary.