Suit by 63 moons Technologies: Chidambaram seeks documents

Former Union finance minister P Chidambaram, facing a summons notice from the Bombay High Court in a suit demanding Rs 10,000 crore in damages filed by 63 moons Technologies, has sought from the company a copy of the plaint and other relevant documents.

The high court, on July 24, directed Chidambaram and two bureaucrats to remain present in person or through their lawyers on October 15 to respond to the claims made by the firm, formerly known as Financial Technologies Ltd.

On August 14, Chidambaram's lawyer Nitesh Jain of Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas Law Firm sought from the company a copy of their plaint and all documents it has relied upon.

"The summons was not accompanied by a copy of the plaint or any other annexures and hence the summons is in non-compliance with relevant provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure," the letter by Chidambaram's lawyers said.

Advocate Bhavesh Thakur, the company's lawyer, said on Tuesday that after receiving the letter, a copy of the suit and other relevant documents were sent to Chidambaram.

63 Moons Technologies filed the suit on June 12 against Chidambaram; K P Krishnan, secretary, Ministry of Skill Development; Ramesh Abhishek, then Chairman of Forward Market Commission (FMC).

It alleged that the company was facing continuous "targeted and malafide actions" in the wake of an "engineered payment default crisis" at one of its subsidiaries, National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL).

It claimed that probe by multiple agencies did not find any money trail reaching NSEL, 63 moons and its founder Jignesh Shah. However, the group was targeted as part of a "conspiracy" hatched by Chidambaram when he was finance minister, Krishnan and Abhishek, the suit alleged.

It demanded damages of Rs 10,000 crore.