NSE co-location scam: Former finance ministry consultant Ajay Shah under probe for possessing sensitive documents

Ajay Shah being probed for NSE co-location scam under Official Secrets Act

Ajay Shah, a consultant to the Union finance ministry between 2004 and 2009 and a key accused in the NSE co-location scam, is under investigation for holding sensitive documents falling under the Official Secrets Act (OSA), as reported by Businessline.

According to the income tax (I-T) department’s internal appraisal report, Shah was into the business of lobbying and the secret government policy decision papers in his possession could have been used for dabbling in stocks.

The I-T report, which was prepared after raids, search and seizure operations on various entities, provided suggestions and guidelines to the investigators, was submitted to the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) team probing the co-location scam.

“It is important to mention that several secret and privileged documents, including cabinet notes etc were also found from the digital data seized from Prof Ajay Shah. He may have been aware of important government policy decisions in advance, which could have had a bearing on stock prices as well,” said the I-T report.

“The documents include emails regarding lobbying for the NSE, including favourable policy changes, some privileged communication between DGIT (Inv) Mumbai and Member Investigation CBDT. Further, possession of confidential documents related to search and seizure actions by the I-T department is a violation of OSA 1923.”

While the 1,000-page I-T report said that Shah ran the stock market manipulation as a business, he didn’t comment on the matter discussed.