A special CBI court in Mumbai granted bail to Financial Technologies (India) Ltd promoter Jignesh Shah in connection with a case against him for allegedly suppressing facts to get an extension for stock exchange MCX-SX from market regulator SEBI. Special court judge PS Tarare granted him bail yesterday on a surety of one lakh rupees. <br/><br/>Shah was arrested on September 20 by CBI. The central agency had said that it suspected some former SEBI officials of being hand-in-glove with Shah, who may have bribed them. MCX-SX, promoted by Shah and others, had submitted an application in 2008 to SEBI, seeking extension of its recognition as an exchange for currency futures trade.<br/><br/>MCX-SX promoters had entered into a share buyback arrangement with Punjab National Bank, L&FS and IFCI in violation of Securities Contract Regulation Act and Securities Contract (Regulation) (Manner of Increasing and Maintaining Public Shareholdings in Recognized Stock Exchanges) Regulation, 2006.<br/><br/>CBI alleged that Shah, with the connivance of SEBI officials, suppressed this fact while obtaining extension. SEBI officials deliberately did not issue a notice to the exchange for cancellation of its recognition in the currency derivatives segment when the markets regulator had already rejected a request of MCX-SX for trading in other segments, CBI had said.<br/><br/>Claiming innocence, Shah had argued in the court that he was only a non-executive director and one of the members of the 18-member board of the exchange.