NSEL case: Special court allows ED to monetise attached assets worth Rs 3,464 crore

Mumbai: A Special PMLA court here has allowed properties worth Rs 3,464 crore attached by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) in the National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL) case to be monetised and thereafter restoration of Rs 1,950 crore as a one-time settlement for investors approved by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), according to an agency statement issued on Monday.

The court order, dated October 8, is a significant step towards restitution to investors who have been awaiting recovery for the last 13 years since the payment default of 2013.

This restoration order provides that up to Rs 1,950 crore realised from the monetisation of PMLA-attached properties will be paid to 63 Moons Technologies Ltd., as assignee of the specified creditors (investors), after the Settlement Trigger Event defined in the NCLT-approved scheme. Under the scheme, Rs 1,950 crore is payable to 5,682 specified creditors.

As many of these properties are also attached under the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (in Financial Establishments) Act, 1999 (MPID Act), the ED will carry out the monetisation in consultation with the competent authority under the MPID Act, the statement said.

The ED gave its no-objection to this arrangement to secure early restitution to investors. According to the court order, any amount realised in excess of Rs 1,950 crore will remain in the custody of the Special Court, subject to the final outcome of the proceedings.

An FIR had first been registered in the NSEL case in 2013 at M.R.A. Marg Police Station, Mumbai, and later transferred to the Economic Offences Wing, Mumbai Police, against the platform provider, its directors and key officials, 25 defaulting members and others, for criminal conspiracy, cheating, criminal breach of trust and forgery. It was alleged that trading was allowed in commodities without actual underlying stocks. The resulting payment default affected about 13,000 investors, with outstanding dues of around Rs 5,600 crore.

The ED recorded an ECIR and investigated the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA). It has so far issued 35 provisional attachment orders for assets valued at about Rs 3,464.03 crore and also filed prosecution complaints, including supplementary PCs, before the special court.

On November 28, 2025, the NCLT, Mumbai, sanctioned a Scheme of Arrangement under Sections 230–232 of the Companies Act, 2013, providing a one-time settlement of Rs 1,950 crore for 5,682 specified creditors. The scheme was approved by over 92 per cent of the creditors and assures each of them a minimum recovery of about 42 per cent of their verified claims. The NCLAT dismissed the appeal against the sanction on January 15 this year, and the appeal before the Supreme Court was also dismissed. On April 13, the Supreme Court directed all courts and authorities to pass appropriate orders expeditiously for implementing the scheme, as it is intended to pay the entitled investors.

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