SC reserves order on appeal for CBI enquiry into Saradha

TMC gets breather ahead of polls

Ahead of the second phase of polls in West Bengal tomorrow, Trinamool Congress (TMC) got a breather as Supreme Court today reserved its order on an appeal for CBI enquiry into the multi-crore Saradha scam.

While Odisha government in the court today supported CBI enquiry into the scam, on the final day of the hearing the counsel of the TMC-led West Bengal government continued its opposition proposing CBI enquiry in other states except West Bengal.

The Supreme Court bench of Justices T S Thakur and C Nagappan, however, reserved its order. The court is likely to give its order once the Odisha government submits its opinion on the issue to the court in writing.

SC is hearing two PILs - one filed by advocates Pratim Kumar Singha Ray and Abu Abbasuddin, and another by advocate Subrata Chattoraj, seeking a CBI enquiry into the scam, which is being opposed by the state. The TMC government has alleged "political motivation" behind the demand.

This has come as a temporary relief to the TMC before six constituencies spread over the districts of Uttar Dinajpur, Dakshin Dinajpur, Malda and Murshidabad districts goes to polls on Thursday. Mamata Banerjee's party has been under immense pressure as some of the TMC leaders have come under the scanner of Enforcement Directorate (ED) recently for their alleged links with Saradha. ED, which is probing the matter, recently arrested Saradha promoter Sudipta Sen's second wife and son for alleged money laundering . Sen and suspended Trinamool MP Kunal Ghosh are already behind the bars in connection with the scam.

Moreover, the state government has come under severe criticism as the scam, which has turned a year, for inaction. In fact, SIT was unable to trace Sudipta Sen's wife and son, who were arrested only weeks back by the ED from Kolkata. The SIT was set up by state has been probing the case since Saradha, but it has refrained from quizzing TMC leaders, including Mukul Roy, Madan Mitra, whose names have often surfaced.

SC too earlier during the hearing had pulled up the state government for not looking into the "larger conspiracy" angle in its investigation.

As more and more people connected to the TMC are being summoned--MPs and intellectuals--the opposition has begun raising the pitch. BJP's prime ministrial candidate Narendra Modi raked up Saradha during his election campaign in North Bengal recently. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi too during their campaign last week launched a scathing attack on the Trinamool Congress government in the state accusing it of shielding scamsters.

Trinamool Congress (TMC) however accused the Congress of using Enforcement Directorate (ED) as a political tool ahead of elections, defending the state government's investigation.