In the NSE's appeal against the Bombay High Court's ruling against it regarding its defamation suit against news website Moneylife , a two-judge bench of the Bombay High Court today stayed the penalty of Rs 50 lakh on the NSE.

Justices Kanade and Phansalkar-Joshi also admitted the NSE's appeal against the earlier ruling and admitted it for hearing in two weeks' time.

Earlier, the Bombay High Court has dismissed NSE’s defamation suit against  Moneylife  magazine and its publishers. The NSE had filed the suit after  Moneylife  had published reports alleging that insiders at the stock exchange gave unfair advantage to certain high-frequency (algorithmic) traders.

Element of truth possibility

Dismissing the ₹100-crore suit that the stock exchange had brought against the magazine, Justice Gautam Patel observed that the magazine had given the exchange an adequate opportunity to defend itself before the articles had been published. The exchange, however, had chosen not to answer the questions from the magazine. Given this, the judge said the NSE cannot use the process of the court to gag the press. The suit had been filed against Moneywise Media Pvt Ltd (which wns  Moneylife  magazine), editor and publisher Debashis Basu and Managing Editor Sucheta Dalal, who had written the reports in question. Dismissing the suit, Justice Patel said by not responding to the journalist’s questions, NSE had either shown arrogance or there was an element of truth in the allegations. The court also imposed a ₹50-lakh penalty on NSE, of which ₹3 lakh will be paid to Basu and Dalal and the remaining given as charity to Tata Memorial Hospital and Masina Hospital in Mumbai.

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