HC slams govt over delay in probe into Ponzi cases

The Karnataka High Court slammed the state government for delaying the investigation into nine companies, including Ambident, Azmera, Inzas International and others, that had cheated lakhs of people.

Hearing a bunch of public interest petitions on Thursday, a division bench led by Chief Justice Abhay S Oka directed the state government to file an affidavit on the status of the investigation against IMA and action taken report under The Karnataka Protection of Interest of Depositors in Financial Establishments Act, 2004 (KPID).

During the hearing, the advocate for the government submitted a report on the status of the investigation in a sealed cover and the same was recorded by the bench.

The bench went through the report and observed that the government had not taken any action against the companies and not seized their bank accounts, properties under the KPID Act.

Even though the state government had written a letter to the deputy commissioner of Bengaluru urban district, the officer has not taken any action. It is a shame that the officer had not obeyed the order of the government, observed the court.

The bench also observed that the government appointed appellate authority only in the IMA case and no authority had been appointed against cases involving other companies.

The bench asked the government to file a compliance report by initiating action against these companies under the KPID Act before November 21. The bench adjourned the matter to November 22.