JOIN USSebi, RBI to face probe in Saradha scam case
The Supreme Court said on Friday that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will probe the role of regulatory bodies for turning a blind eye to the Saradha chit-fund scam, spread over several states.
“We have directed the CBI to investigate the role of market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for effecting a mechanism. If the regulator turns a blind eye, it needs to be investigated. There is nothing that remains outside the scope of the investigation,” clarified a bench of Justices T S Thakur and Adarsh Kumar Goel while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking expansion of the CBI probe into the multi-crore scam.
The court allowed senior advocate Shekhar Naphade, appearing for petitioner Subir Dey, to withdraw his PIL. The bench told him to approach the CBI with his plea for expanding the probe into the case.
The court cited its May 9, 2014, order directing the CBI investigations into the duping of lakhs of people to the tune of Rs 10,000-crore through several Ponzi schemes in West Bengal, Odisha and Assam.
Three Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders, including West Bengal Transport Minister Madan Mitra, and MPs Srinjoy Bose and Kunal Ghosh have been arrested in connection with the scam.
The CBI has also questioned TMC leader and former railway minister Mukul Roy. Notably, the court, taking up a petition filed by the West Bengal government, had recently asked the CBI to seek modification of the May 9, 2014, order after the probe agency expressed inability to investigate the scam due to shortage of manpower.