85-year-old gets pre-arrest bail in mistaken NSE shares transfer case

The FIR alleges that the accused dishonestly sold the shares despite knowing they had been mistakenly credited to his account

MUMBAI: An 85-year-old man accused of selling 5,000 unlisted National Stock Exchange (NSE) shares mistakenly credited to his demat account has been granted anticipatory bail by a Mumbai sessions court, which held that custodial interrogation was unnecessary as the case rests largely on documentary evidence and is already the subject of a civil dispute before the Delhi High Court.

85-year-old gets pre-arrest bail in mistaken NSE shares transfer case

Additional sessions judge V.B. Bohra passed the order in favour of Kashmiri Lal Rana on Friday in a case registered by the BKC police. The FIR alleges that Rana dishonestly sold the shares despite knowing they had been mistakenly credited to his account.

The prosecution opposed bail, claiming his two sons live in the United States, raising the possibility of him absconding. It also argued that recovery of the case property was still pending which the accused might dispose of if the bail was granted.

In his defense, Rana contended that there was a seven-month delay in the registration of the FIR, blamed the error on NSE officials, and said the chargesheet had already been filed, making custodial interrogation unnecessary. He also relied on his advanced age and absence of criminal antecedents.

The judge further noted the parallel civil proceedings, observing that NSE had already “instituted the civil suit against the applicant/accused before the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi” seeking declaration, recovery and other reliefs, and that he had appeared and contested the suit.

Holding that custodial interrogation was unnecessary, the judge observed that the evidence was primarily documentary and that Rana had already cooperated with investigators.

The court further observed, “considering the nature of allegations, according to me, there appeared no necessity of custodial interrogation of the applicant accused. He is a senior citizen of 85 years old and has no criminal history.”

The case stems from an alleged mistaken transfer of 5,000 unlisted NSE shares to Rana’s demat account in December 2023. Before the error was detected, a substantial number of the shares were sold, prompting NSE to initiate both civil and criminal proceedings. The Delhi high court has earlier restrained the transfer of the remaining shares and bonus shares during the pendency of the suit.