As investors stepped up their protests to claim pending payments from the National Spot Exchange, the Standing Committee of Parliament, headed by Yashwant Sinha, has decided to probe the scam.

A recent meeting of the panel discussed the issue and members suggested that a thorough probe must be conducted to get the real picture of the “scam.”

“This is yet another big scam under the UPA Government. Members are keen to know the truth. There are demands that the works of even the National Commodity Exchange must be studied since it handles important financial activities,” a member said.

The committee is also likely to travel to Mumbai to study the performance of spot exchanges. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs was handling the activities of the commodity exchanges.

Though Sinha earlier wanted to look into the activities of the spot exchanges, his committee could not take it up as the standing committee on food, public distribution and consumer affairs was supposed to look at the matter.

Earlier, there was no regulator for the spot exchange. However, after the crisis, the Forward Market Commission was authorised to supervise the settlement process of NSEL. Now, FMC has been brought under the Finance Ministry. This means, “The finance standing committee can analyse the activities of the spot exchanges,” an MP (Member of Parliament) said.

The members of the panel also want to interact with investors and traders too. The BJP has been maintaining that spot exchange is yet another scam under the UPA Government. The party had demanded a high-level probe into the scam.

jigeesh.am@thehindu.co.in

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