NSE withdraws Rs 100-crore defamation suit against Moneylife magazine, pays Rs 50 lakh in penalty
The case relates to a whistleblower’s letter carried by the publication, which alleged that the stock exchange had given unfair advantage to certain brokers.
The National Stock Exchange on Tuesday withdrew its Rs 100-crore defamation case against Moneylife magazine and its founders Sucheta Dalal and Debashis Basu. The national bourse also paid Rs 1.5 lakh each to the founders and Rs 47 lakh to two charitable trusts – Tata Memorial Hospital and the Masina Hospital – as per a previous order by the Bombay High Court.
The personal finance magazine is published by Moneywise Media Pvt Ltd. The NSE has confirmed that is has withdrawn the case, Bloomberg reported.
NSE withdraws Rs100 crore defamation case & appeal. Walked out with costs & J Patel's order intact. Million thanks to million well wishers pic.twitter.com/BAwbXcE4Lw
— Sucheta Dalal (@suchetadalal) September 12, 2017
The defamation case relates to a whistleblower’s letter published in Moneylife in June 2015, which alleged that the stock exchange had given unfair advantage to certain brokers to get information on market prices before others, Bar and Bench reported. In July 2015, the NSE had moved the Bombay High Court to stop the circulation of the article and demanded an unconditional apology from the magazine.
However, after hearing the matter, Justice Gautam Patel had imposed a Rs 50-lakh penalty on the exchange. The NSE had challenged this order in the division bench.
