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The Saradha chid fund scam came out in the open in April 2013. And, after more than a year, the Supreme Court on Friday ordered a CBI enquiry on the scandal, ignoring staunch opposition from the West Bengal Government.
With 17 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats going to the polls on May 12 (Monday), the probe order may not augur well for the ruling Trinamool Congress. But the party has only itself to blame for the turn of events.
Saradha’s disclosure On April 10, 2013, days before the Ponzi operator went bust, Saradha Group chairman Sudipta Sen wrote an 18-page letter to the Kolkata office of CBI (copy of letter is with Business Line ).
It had details of “protection” money paid to ruling Trinamool Congress MPs from West Bengal and a pro-Trinamool vernacular media house, to help him run the Ponzi-empire through over 220 companies.
No one knows how much money Sen collected through such schemes from West Bengal and its neighbouring States. The State police is yet to establish the money trail. But many say the amount involved could be in excess of ₹10,000 crore.
An enquiry commission formed by the West Bengal Government identified at least 10 lakh investors and started repaying them with taxpayers’ money.
Meanwhile, Sen was booked in 268 cases in different courts across the State. But he is often found giving press statements, lauding the efforts of the Mamata Banerjee Government.
Police had also taken action against a Trinamool MP, Kunal Ghosh, who was accused by Sen in the April 2013 disclosure to CBI.
Days before his arrest in November 2013, Ghosh accused the Trinamool leadership of taking “all possible benefits” from Saradha. Ghosh is still in jail custody.
Lone crusader The Supreme Court order raises hope of ending the stalemate in investigations. And, the credit should go to senior Congress leader Abdul Mannan, who paved the way for filing two public interest litigations before the apex court.
“I felt compelled to fight for those who are duped. Now I am happy that a CBI probe has been ordered into the matter,” he said.
Trinamool puts up brave face Throughout the last one year, while the demand for a CBI was getting stronger, the West Bengal Chief Minister saw it as a “conspiracy” by opposition parties to malign her government.
Her sharp reactions provoked BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi to ask: “Why is didi (Mamata) perturbed by the very mention of Saradha?”
In a sudden turnabout, Mamata Banerjee on Friday welcomed the court order. “I am very happy. It is no more my responsibility to return the money to investors in Saradha. Let the CBI do it.”
She blamed the Centre, the Reserve Bank of India and capital market regulator SEBI for the entire fiasco.
“My government is safe,” she said.
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