Court asks Mamata on steps taken in chit fund scam

Kolkata, April 25 (IANS) Barring the Saradha Group from making any financial transactions, the Calcutta High Court Thursday asked the West Bengal government to furnish details about the steps taken against the tainted company.

"The court has asked the state government to give details about the steps it has taken against the Saradha Group after it got information about financial irregularities of the company," said lawyer Subrata Mukhopadhyay, who filed the PIL on behalf of Basabi Roychowdhury.

A division bench of Chief Justice Arun Mishra and Justice J.M. Bagchi, while hearing a PIL seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into the chit fund muddle, directed the Mamata Banerjee government to furnish the details through an affidavit by May 2.

"The court has also asked the CBI to give a report about steps it has taken in Guwahati where too the Saradha scam has stretched," said Mukhopadhyay adding that the court has barred the company from making financial transactions.

Saradha chief Sudipta Sen, arrested Tuesday, had April 6 written to the CBI naming several high profile political leaders including a prominent Assam cabinet minister for their alleged complicity in the scam, following which Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has said his government was considering a CBI enquiry.

The group, one of the largest chit fund companies in eastern India, went bust and its offices last week downed shutters, unable to repay lakhs of depositors. Sen, arrested Tuesday, is being prosecuted for cheating.

The matter will come up for hearing May 3.