AISPA’s Media release

Mumbai 23 March 2012

MEDIA STATEMENT

MUMBAI HIGH COURT PUTS A STOP TO ONGOING INVESTIGATIONS ON SPEAKASIA

Speakasia Panelist Association of India (AISPA) is pleased to announce as follows:

On 15^th March, 2012, in a statement before the Hon’ble Bombay High Court Mr. Navniit Tarachand Kkhosla has informed the Hon’ble High Court that he has received his entire subscription amount in SpeakAsia and he does not wish to pursue his complaint against SpeakAsia.

The Amount was paid to Mr. Kkhosla pursuant to his “affidavit in reply” filed before the Hon’ble High Court on 5^th March, 2012.

On 21^st March the Hon’ble Bombay High Court was pleased to order STAY on the investigation by the EOW in the matter of Speakasia.

We hope that with this development, SpeakAsia will be able to resume operations soon.

This has been a long standing demand of the majority of the Panelists of SpeakAsia.

Links to the orders of the Hon’ble High Court for your ready perusal:

a) Order dated 15^th March, 2012: http://bombayhighcourt.nic.in/data/criminal/2012/WP361111150312.pdf

b) Order dated 21^st March, 2012: http://bombayhighcourt.nic.in/data/criminal/2012/WP361111210312.pdf

Warm Regards,

Ashok Bahirwani
Secretary
AISPA

Update from Corporate Marketing Team (19 Mar. 2012)

COMPANY STATEMENT
23 March 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Mumbai High Court Puts A Stop To Ongoing Investigations on SpeakAsia

SpeakAsia is pleased to note that the complainant, Navnit Tarachand Khosla, had withdrawn his complaint against SpeakAsia in a filed affidavit on 21 March 2012, as he had his subscription amount returned to him.

With this development, SpeakAsia hopes it can start on the road to resume its operations soon.

SpeakAsia would like to place on record its gratitude to the panelists who stood behind the company during these trying times.

Warm Regards,
SpeakAsia Corporate Marketing Team
Official Blog : http://speakasiaonlinemarketing.blogspot.in/

Updates From AISPA - Ashok Bahirwani (19 Mar. 2012)

Good Morning Speakasians,

Today was a very busy day; I wanted to post my update earlier but could not.

First of all I wish to thank the entire Speakasian family for showing support and concern for my Anticipatory Bail which was to be heard today but will be hopefully heard tomorrow at 11.00 am by the Principal Judge in the Sessions Court.

The few major things that have taken place since the 15^th March, 2012 are important for me to place on record in front of this entire Speakasian Family.

On 15^th the PP representing the EOW informed the Hon’ble Court that the Petitioner No. 2 that is me is not co operating with the EOW and is soon going to be made an accused.

Aggrieved by the statement i wrote to the EOW on the 17^th at 12.15 respectfully asking them as to what kind of Co-Operation they seek from me and what information they want which I have not already provided and in response to my letter, within two hours, they send me a 72 Hours notice of Arrest.

I was shocked and aghast at this response which stinks of personal vendetta as somebody like me who has not earned a single “naya paisa” from the Speakasia scheme neither do I have any downline, could be arrested as being part of the crime (if there is one)

I have now come to realize that the EOW is not interested in my co-operation they are only interested in my submission and in my surrender before them.

The EOW wants me to go before them on my knees, with folded hands and head bowed in abject submission, with fear in my heart.

NO SIR, I will not do any of that, on the contrary I will go before every agency standing tall, my head held high in pride, like a proud speakasian and continue to fight for the rights of the 12.5 lakh Speakasians, the right to safeguard our liberty, the right to safeguard our money and the right to earn our livelihood.

I wish to remind all Speakasians that around the 24^th November, 2012 I had informed this family through my updates that the PP had come before the Hon’ble Bombay High court and managed to mislead the Bombay High Court that the Hon’ble Supreme Court had allowed the EOW to continue investigation and again on 15^th March the same PP misled the Hon’ble Bombay High Court and misinformed the Court that this time the Mediator had allowed them to continue the investigation. Both the episodes were false and nothing of that sort had happened.

On the contrary it was informed to the Hon’ble court that the Hon’ble Mr. Justice R.C. Lahoti ji was in fact aggrieved by the un co operative behavior of the EOW and it was feared what kind of report the Mediator will file before the Hon’ble Supreme Court against their conduct.

The EOW in its affidavit in reply both in the Hon’ble Bombay High court and in the Hon’ble Supreme Court have not been able to bring out any serious allegation or charge against the company, their affidavits are full of misinformation and falsehood and border on comedy, allow me to demonstrate how and why.

In their affidavit in the Hon’ble Supreme Court the EOW says that why should the company be asking the EOW for the details of the panelists they should in fact ask AISPA to provide the information as they represent the entire speakasian panelist family. What the officials of EOW fail to understand that AISPA does not have the financial status of all the panelists, this information is only available on the website of SAOL and unfortunately this access is with the EOW.

What amuses me the most is that instead of working towards getting the money to the panelists, why is the EOW working towards delaying the payments?

Is it not in Public Interest that the EOW should go before the mediator and assist him in ascertaining the dues of the panelists who wish to EXIT so that the panelists who want to EXIT can receive the money?

Another instance of misinformation spread by the learned PP before the Hon’ble Bombay High Court was that the PP informed the Hon’ble court that they had filed for a stay in the matter, as I write this update 4 days after the 15th no such information comes to our knowledge, clearly pointing at yet another instance of falsehood spread by the PP under instructions from EOW. I dread to think what will be the state of their continuous falsehood once the Hon’ble High Court comes to know about their deceit.

On a related note I would like to mention that in a recent report our old friend Justice Shri Mateen Hafeez sahib has reported that the EOW officials have 200 more complaints in their kitty. To which I humbly submit, let there not be 200, let there be 2000 complaints.

A complaint arises when one party says I have paid you, and you are not paying me back on my demand. The company is willing to pay back all panelists who want to EXIT, provided they opt for the EXIT OPTION. Let all those 200 complainants apply for the said EXIT OPTION and get paid by the company through the Mediation effort of the Hon’ble Supreme Court.

Where is the Problem? The company is bound by its undertaking to the Hon’ble Supreme Court to pay out the entire outstanding as ascertained by the Hon’ble Mediator.

In the AISPA press conference today, I asked the media representatives, what will the EOW’s 72 hour notice for arrest gain, save and except my arrest, the arrest of my physical body, this arrest will not be able to arrest my spirit, my thoughts, my ideas or the UNITED fight of the Speakasians. The battle of Speakasians, for the protection of personal liberty and the right to earn a livelihood is much greater than the arrest of Ashok Bahirwani.

If they arrest Ashok Bahirwani there will be another 10 Ashok Bahirwani’s who will stand up, on the arrest of these 10 another 100 will be born. This fight is of the truth, this fight is for our personal liberty, this fight is for our rights, this fight is for our constitutional basic rights to earn our livelihood this is a never ending fight till we get justice.

“There is no religion greater than truth and a truthful person knows no fear”.…Rig Veda

Have Patience, have faith, Trust the company.

Morya… Bhai Morya,

Jai Speakasia,

Jai Speakasia,

Jai Speakasia.

Ashok Bahirwani
Secretary
AISPA

Investor withdraws first complaint against Speak Asia

Navniit Khhosla, the first person to lodge FIR against the firm withdraws complaint after recovering over R6 lakh, which he had invested with the firm
Navniit Khhosla, the first person to register a First Information Report (FIR) against Speak Asia last year has withdrawn his complaint. The withdrawal came after Khhosla 'recovered' his losses. He had registered the FIR after losing Rs 6,06,000 which he had invested with the company. It was based on his complaint that the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) arrested over 10 employees, including some high-ranking officers of the company.


Long road ahead: Tarak Bajpai, chief operating officer of Speak Asia,
one of the suspects in the scam, is currently out on bail. File pic

As per the reports, money received by Khhosla came from some of the panelists, who have been caught in the litigation on his account. Like Khhosla, most of the 15-lakh investors are recovering their dues via a Supreme Court (SC) appointed mediator.

Representing All India Speak Asia Panelist Association (AISPA) advocate Ahmed Abdi said, "Several panelists came together and contributed around Rs 50,000 each and paid the amount to Khhosla."

The Bombay High Court bench comprising Justices V M Kanade and P D Kode heard Khhosla's case yesterday. Khhosla, who was present for the hearing, said, "I have received the amount I had claimed and would like to withdraw my complaint."

As per Khhosla's affidavit, which was served upon AISAPA on March 6, ' ¦whenever the money claimed by me is paid to me either by the Company, Mediator or any other accused, the deponent would have no grievances against the Company or the accused and would cooperate with them to get the FIR quashed."

At present, the EOW has frozen the company's assets worth approximately Rs 140 crore. The action was initiated after Khhosla registered the FIR. In addition, 10 million USD (approx Rs 50 crore) have been deposited with the SC, and the amount is being used to satisfy claims of other investors.

Currently, the SC-appointed mediator is compiling the number of panelists who want to 'exit' the company, a process that will be completed by March 31. Moreover, the HC has not yet specified as to what will happen to the investigations of the EOW, now that the complaint no longer exists, and has scheduled another hearing for March 27.

Case history
Floated in 2010, Speak Asia, allegedly duped people by posing as a survey company. Investors, also known as panelists, were given usernames and passwords to be used on the company's now defunct website upon payment of Rs 11,000. Each investor was given two surveys to complete in a week. They were promised Rs 52,000 if they completed 100 surveys in a year.


Rs 50 cr
Amount deposited by Speak Asia with the SC

Source Midday

Updates From AISPA - Ashok Bahirwani (12 Mar. 2012)

Good Evening Speakasians,

After a long and joyous festive period of almost 10 days the Hon’ble Supreme Court will reopen today.

It is also going to be a much awaited fortnight for us Speakasians as it marks the start of an event filled fortnight that we all have been keenly awaiting.

I list out the upcoming court matters for the Month of March 2012 as below: (in chronological order)

12^th March 2012: In the Andhra Pradesh High Court CRLP 10782/2011 will come up for hearing. This is a case filed by Mr. Rajeev Mehrotra and others for quashing of the FIR No. 243/2011. The case is listed for admission.

13^th March 2012: Mediation meeting before the Hon. Mediator, this is as informed by the learned PP Mr. Pandurang Pol to the Hon’ble Mumbai High Court.

14^th March 2012: WPST 3210 and 3211 of 2011, filed by the company in the Hon’ble Mumbai High Court, for quashing the Raigad and Thane FIR’s. This has been listed at S. No 2 and should come up for sure.

15^th March 2012: Hearing in the Mumbai High Court in the AISPA Writ 3611/2011. This is high on the supplementary Board and should come up for hearing in the early hours. Important to note is that an application has been filed in this matter to reinstate AISPA as Petitioner 1.

23^rd March 2012: SLP (criminal) 7509 and 7510 of 2011 in the Hon’ble Supreme Court for quashing the Andhra FIR’s. This matter was before the Registrar earlier and will be listed before the Hon’ble court on this date.

Other Matters which may come up in this period:

SL/202/2012 in the Mumbai High Court in the matter of Speakasia V/s Multi Screen Media Pvt. Ltd & others (R.K.Laxman ki duniya matter)

WPL/444/2012 in the Mumbai High Court this is a fresh Writ by AISPA against the State for protecting its right to form and manage an Association.

WP/383/2011 may also come up for a hearing in the Hon’ble Supreme Court if the Hon’ble Mediator prefers to file his report before the Supreme Court.

All in all a busy fortnight ahead and we are all hopeful that we will surely get some break through and relief in some forum or the other.

Many Panelists continue to remain confused regarding the EXIT OPTION. On close perusal of the letter dated 1^st March by the corporate team on the company’s BlogSpot, read along with the order of the Hon’ble Supreme Court dated 6^th February, you will come to realize that the EXIT OPTION will be executed in the following manner:

The company is presently gathering information from various Panelists who wish to opt for the EXIT OPTION and the company has kept the window of EXIT open till the 31^st March, 2012. On gathering the complete information upto 31^st March, 2012 the company will assist the Hon’ble Mediator in ascertaining the actual amount due and payable to all the Panelists who wish to EXIT.

It will not be out of place to mention that to the best of my understanding the SAOL Website will surely be operative by then. Once the SAOL website is operational and login permitted all the panelists interested in updating their details etc will be permitted to do so.

The panelists who have earlier applied for the EXIT OPTION will also be given an opportunity to reverse their application if they now feel that they do not want to affect the EXIT.

On the final ascertaining of the total dues of the company in respect to the EXIT OPTION if required the Hon’ble Mediator will ask the company to bring in the additional money, as per the order of 6^th February, 2012 the court has allowed the company to bring in such an amount within 15 days of such an ascertainment by the Hon’ble Mediator.

Once the exercise of EXIT OPTION is out of the way the company will surely focus all its energies on restarting the business activities which is the interest of the majority of the Panelists.

To summarise the road ahead allow me to draw out the road map in the following steps:

1) Data Collection of all Panelists wanting to EXIT upto 31^st March 2012.

2) Return of the Website for login by the Panelist ASAP, I sincerely hope that the same is done much before 31^st March, 2012.

3) Ascertaining the Amount payable by the company, to the EXITING Panelists and to the various Authorities, by the Hon’ble Mediator, should not take more than a week to 10 days.

4) If the outstanding is more than 280 crores (140 crores seized and laying on the shores of the country, an additional approx 90 crores expected as refund and 50 crores deposited by the company on and around 21^st February) in all probabilities it is not, but for the sake of assumptions, let us assume that the company is asked to bring in some additional amount the company will have to bring in this money in April itself as per the Hon’ble Supreme Court order dated 6^th February, 2012. Important to note here is that this amount of around 280 crores is sufficient to take care of more than 2 lakh 80 thousand EXITING Panelists and we all know that the number of panelists opting for EXIT is far less than the above figure.

5) Payments to Panelists opting for the EXIT OPTION in all probabilities will positively happen immediately after the above step.

6) Considering that all matters relating to quashing of the various FIR’s are slated in this fortnight and if we can have even one matter going in the favor of the company this will see the entire matter having a cascading effect positively in favor of restart of the business activities.

7) As per my best understanding I do not see too much time left for the restart of business and as I have some time back in one of my earlier updates explained how this hot air balloon of deceit and falsehood will spiral out with a simple prick of a favorable decision in the favor of the company.

Since August 2011 when AISPA was formed and Melwyn and I agreed to take up the cudgels on behalf of the 12.5 lakh Speakasians, this journey has been a journey of self realization for me, and I am sure it has been for Melwyn too as it has been for the entire Speakasian family. This may be one of the rare consistent fights put up by such a large group of individuals for their rights and for their livelihood.

The last seven months since AISPA was born, I can feel substantial growth from being a materialistic person to an evolved more spiritually conscious being. I can feel the love and affection of the 12.5 lakh Speakasians every moment, and this only motivates me to go on fighting for our rights and to protect the basic primary fundamental rights of the Speakasian panelists.

This period since August has helped me to awaken my antaratma and I feel so elevated and light, joyous and happy, I feel enveloped by love. Thank you Speakasia, Thank You Speakasians my personal physical effort has never given me such a huge ROI, this indeed is one great INVESTMENT and I am proud of this.

For the first time I end this update with two quotes, please read them together:

“A single event can awaken within us a stranger totally unknown to us.”…Antoine de Saint-Exupery

"What we think we become."… Buddha

It is our attitude that will help us change our destiny; it is our attitude that will help us seek the path to victory. History is witness to the fact that great victories have all been achieved only by the power of the people, this victory will also happen only because of the people who believe in the company. We Speakasians will win our beloved Speakasia back against all odds.

Morya… Bhai Morya.

Jai Speakasia,

Jai Speakasia,

Jai Speakasia.

Ashok Bahirwani
Secretary
AISPA

Updates From AISPA - Ashok Bahirwani (03 Mar. 2012)

Good Evening Speakasians,

Re: Explanation of the EXIT OPTION:

Herein under is reproduced the EXIT OPTION as it appears on www.speakasiamarketing.com and under each scenario is an attempt to try and explain the scenario in simple words. I hope this will help the Panelists who have some confusion.

• NO Reward points (henceforth referred as RP ) earned after becoming a panelist:
  
  If you have recently subscribed to the E-Zine and have not participated in any of the SAOL activities or no RP's have been credited in your account then you can opt out of your association with SAOL by agreeing to these terms and conditions and filling up the attached form. By doing so you will a refund of your entire subscription cost less the registration amount to your bank account mentioned in your profile. The e-zine subscription shall cease to be sent to your mail ID and you will no longer be associated with SAOL.

This clearly means that if you have not withdrawn any money from your E wallet, or transferred any RP to another ID or if you have not used your RP’s to generate any pins. In other words if you have not been able to encash or withdraw any money then your entire subscription cost will be refunded including the cost of subpanels. So if you have paid for subscription ten thousand or one lakh the entire subscription cost will be refunded if you opt out through the EXIT OPTION.

• RP's Earned lesser than Subscription Cost:
  
  In case you have en-cashed or used RP's, whose total value is less than the subscription cost, these RP's shall be deducted from the cost of subscription and the balance will be credited in to your bank account. The ezine subscription will later cease to be sent to your mail ID and you will no longer be associated with SAOL.

Again this is abundantly clear that if you have earned some part of your subscription cost e.g. if you have joined Speakasia by subscribing say to only one panel and hence you have paid Rs. 10000/- and say you have withdrawn 4000/- by whatever means either by bank request or by way of transfer of RP to another account or by way of generating pins etc then you will be eligible for a refund of Rs. 6000/- i.e. Rs. 10000/- minus Rs. 4000/- which you have earned and as such you are eligible for a refund of Rs. 6000/-

• RP's en-cashed or used are more than subscription cost:
  
  You are welcome to participate in SAOL website since your participation has earned your RP's more than your subscription cost. You can now utilize the RPs for various revenue generating activities of the company once restart of our services is allowed in India.

If you have already earned more than your subscription cost then you are more than welcome to continue with your association with SAOL and continue to participate in the activities of the company once the business restarts.

We have explained the above examples by taking into subscription cost of Rs. 10000/- and not taken into account the Rs. 1000/- registration cost.

Disclaimer: This explanation is as I understand. Because it deals with explaining an official document of the company SAOL the final word lies with the company and all clarifications will be subject to the company’s final interpretation and decision. I or AISPA cannot be held responsible in any way for the above interpretation and explanation of the EXIT Policy.

Some Panelists have raised a few questions and I try and answer them as under:

Ques) Which site does the panelist go to resister his/her EXIT OPTION?

Ans) The Panelist has to visit www.speakasiamarketing.com and fill up the EXIT Application form on this site. Please remember that the company is only collecting data as of now. Once the company gets back the website from the authorities (This is inevitable) the company will confirm the details with each of the exiting panelist and on confirmation from the panelist the EXIT payments will be affected. The Website has been active for applying for EXIT since it was launched and will accept EXIT applications till 31^st March 2012.

Ques) If a panelist had submitted the EXIT Application Form earlier but does not want to effect the EXIT, how does he cancel the same.

Ans) As explained above once the company starts confirming the EXIT from the panelists that is the time when the panelist can cancel his EXIT.

Ques) If a Panelist has not updated his bank details can he opt for the EXIT OPTION?

Ans) Yes he can. If you see the EXIT Application form it does not ask for the banking details. As explained earlier this is only a data collecting phase and the company will get into the banking details only when the Website comes into its possession. The banking details will have to be given but that will be in the final phase of EXIT and the panelist will be given an opportunity to upgrade their account details.

Ques) When will the Exit payments start?

Ans) If you carefully read the Supreme Court Order of 6^th February, 2012 you will realize that the Hon’ble Supreme Court has requested Hon’ble Mediator to ascertain the total outstanding due and payable to the panelists. Once the entire EXIT OPTION is completed on 31^st March, 2012 the Hon’ble Mediator in consultation with the company will ascertain the entire dues of all the panelists who have finally opted for the EXIT OPTION.

On such an ascertainment by the mediator and if required the company will be asked to bring in further additional funds, please read the communication from the marketing team on the company blog spot, the company has clearly informed us that they are willing and ready to bring in additional funds if it is so required.

We wish to remind this entire family that it is not only the 50 crores which is in question there is an additional approx 140 crores laying seized on the shores of the country which also belongs to the Panelists. In our assessment the total fund of approx 190 crores (140+50) is more than sufficient to take care of the payments to the EXIT OPTION and to satisfy any enforceable statutory dues of the Govt.

Ques) How will the EXIT OPTION be effected in the absence of the SAOL Website?

Ans) You are correct that in the final analysis to affect payments the Website will have to be activated. I am sure the company officials and the judiciary will take proper steps to see this happens at the earliest.

Ques) An Interesting question raised by a Panelist is that he has generated a pin from his RP but has not used the same. How much refund he will get, if he takes the EXIT?

Ans) Indeed an Interesting question in my opinion the Company should give him the refund without deducting the cost of the pin generated by him. Such questions are what will be addressed through AISPA once the business restarts. AISPA will serve us an interface between the Panelists and the Company Management.

Some of us have raised a question that the time gap upto 31^st March is rather long. We wish to say that sufficient time needs to be given when ever such notices are given. These time periods are decided by the judiciary and are subject to laid out norms and precedents.

Like I have requested in my update of 1^st March, 2012 although we should be interested in the progress and the final outcome, time has come when we Speakasians should and must extract ourselves from the nitty grities of the matter and minute details should be left to the Company officials and the legal team.

All in all a milestone announcement by the company, which should make us proud of our association with a company, who has by now proved itself and about its intention to stand up and fight for our interest and rights.

With this explanatory update I pray that most of the queries of the panelists may have been answered if there still are any unanswered queries please feel free to post your questions on the Associations group on facebook and I will request the admins to answer them and in case they are unable to do so they will forward the same to me.

Our march towards final victory has begun and we are on our way to create a new corporate history in India.

I take the liberty and reproduce the last lines of the communication from the corporate marketing Team

“The end of our woes is near, and soon the new sun heralding brightness of our future will dawn”.

Continue to remain patient, Have faith, trust the company, remain united and stand shoulder to shoulder steadfastly behind the company.

Morya… Bhai Morya,

Jai Speakasia,

Jai Speakasia,

Jai Speakasia.

Ashok Bahirwani
Secretary
AISPA

Update from Corporate Marketing Team (01 Mar. 2012)

Dear SpeakAsian’s,

Our Family of Speakasians stood rock steady by us through one of the most troubled time in the corporate history of any company. We were attacked maliciously by certain sections of the media, hounded by the authorities, and attempts were made to crush our total entity. However we continuously maintained our commitment to our cause and the protection of the interest of our family.

In these troubled times we gave an ‘Exit Option’ to all those who wanted to leave our fold. A total of 94,334 panelists decided to exercise this option (this is less than 7% of our entire universe of Speak Asians.)  We respect their wishes and would gladly welcome them back with open arms whenever they decide to re-join our family. Any other members of the Speak Asians family who still want to exercise the exit option can do so till 31^st March 2012.

On the orders of the Honorable Supreme Court of India a mediator was appointed to ascertain the dues of all those who wanted to exit the company, and the process to settle the their legitimate dues is well underway. As a manifest of our intent and to demonstrate our never ending commitment to our family of Speakasian’s we have voluntarily deposited a sum of US $ 10 Million, with the Registrar General – Supreme Court. We have further committed to deposit any more amounts due, post the ascertainment of the honorable mediator and proactively facilitate the disbursement process.

We stand committed to all our panellists, our employees, trade partners, and the nation at large. Our endeavor to create a whole new marketplace through our patented ‘Precision Marketing Tool’ stands. We cannot thank you enough for all your support. The end of our woes is near, and soon the new sun heralding brightness of our future will dawn.

Warm Regards,

SpeakAsia Corporate Marketing Team 
http://speakasiaonlinemarketing.blogspot.in/