Close X
Friday, November 29, 2024
ADVT 
India

CBI to probe Saradha scam, other ponzi schemes in Bengal, Odisha: SC

Darpan News Desk IANS, 09 May, 2014 10:14 AM
    In a setback to West Bengal government, the Supreme Court Friday handed over investigation into Saradha chit fund scam to the CBI saying that it would hold further investigation in all the cases including those where a charge sheet has been filed.
     
    The court said that in Odisha, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) would undertake investigation in all the cases registered against 44 companies and permitted the investigating agency to conduct further investigations into all such cases in which charge sheets have already been filed.
     
    Handing over the investigation to CBI, a bench of Justice T.S. Thakur and Justice C.Nagappan asked the agency's joint director, in charge of West Bengal and Odisha, to seek further directions in relation to transfer of any other case or cases "that may require to be transferred for investigation to CBI for a full and effective investigation into the scam".
     
    Pointing to Rs.10,000 crore that were collected by Ponzi companies involving 25 lakh depositors (based on claims filed before commissions of inquiry in the two states) and its accompanied inter-state ramifications, the court said that the fear "such huge collections could have international money laundering dimensions cannot be ruled out and needs to be effectively investigated".
     
    Pronouncing the judgment, Justice Thakur said: "Investigation by the state police in a scam that involves thousands of crores collected from the public allegedly because of the patronage of people occupying high positions in the system will hardly carry conviction especially when even the regulators who were expected to prevent or check such a scam appear to have turned a blind eye to what was going on."
     
    "The question, however, is not whether the state police has faltered. The question is whether what is done by the state police is sufficient to inspire confidence of those who are aggrieved," the court said.
     
    Giving a left-handed compliment to the state police for its investigation, the court said: "While we do not consider it necessary to go into the question whether the state police have done all that it ought to have done, we need to point out that money trail has not yet been traced. The collections made from the public far exceed the visible investment that the investigating agencies have till now identified."
     
    "So also the larger conspiracy angle in the states of Assam, Odisha and West Bengal although under investigation has not made much headway partly because of the inter-state ramifications, which the investigating agencies need to examine but are handicapped in examining."
     
    On the contention of West Bengal and Odisha that CBI had lost its credibility and was no longer independent, the court said: "There is, in our opinion, no basis of the apprehension expressed by the state governments."
     
    "It is true that a lot can be said about the independence of CBI as a premier investigating Agency but so long as there is nothing substantial affecting its credibility, it remains a premier investigating agency."
     
    "Those not satisfied with the performance of the state police more often than not demand investigation by the CBI for it inspires their confidence. We cannot, therefore, decline transfer of the cases only because of certain stray observations or misplaced apprehensions expressed by those connected with the scam or those likely to be affected by the investigation."

    MORE India ARTICLES

    60 million vote in second last round of Lok Sabha battle

    60 million vote in second last round of Lok Sabha battle
    Over 60 million people Wednesday voted in 64 Lok Sabha constituencies across seven states - the number higher than the 2009 average - in the second last round of a staggered election widely tipped to usher in a new government.

    60 million vote in second last round of Lok Sabha battle

    CBI arrests two civic officials for taking bribe

    CBI arrests two civic officials for taking bribe
    The CBI Tuesday arrested two officials of Delhi's civic agency MCD after they were caught taking bribe.

    CBI arrests two civic officials for taking bribe

    Chandigarh's Public Toilets in Corruption Stink

    Chandigarh's Public Toilets in Corruption Stink
    The allotment of tenders for maintenance and advertising of these public toilets is now raising a multi-crore stink, with the city's civic body and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probing the whole affair. 

    Chandigarh's Public Toilets in Corruption Stink

    UN's Pillay seeks peaceful solution to Ukraine crisis

    UN's Pillay seeks peaceful solution to Ukraine crisis
    The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay Tuesday called on all sides to make greater efforts for a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine crisis.

    UN's Pillay seeks peaceful solution to Ukraine crisis

    20 die of cholera in Nigeria

    20 die of cholera in Nigeria
    At least 20 people have died in a cholera outbreak in Nigeria's Plateau state, hospital officials said Tuesday.

    20 die of cholera in Nigeria

    Muslims need quotas to become better-educated, employed: Rahman Khan

    Muslims need quotas to become better-educated, employed: Rahman Khan
    Minority Affairs Minister K.Rahman Khan Tuesday backed giving reservation to Muslims, saying the community suffers from lack of education and scant represenation in government services.

    Muslims need quotas to become better-educated, employed: Rahman Khan