Sc To Monitor Cbi Probe Into Loan Scam

The Supreme Court took over the monitoring of yet another economic scam yesterday when Janata Party president Subramaniam Swamy moved the court for speeding up the investigations in the Indian Bank loan fraud.

A division bench consisting of Justice J S Verma and Justice B N Kirpal issued notice to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as well as the Union cabinet secretary. The notices are returnable in a month. CBI director Joginder Singh was in the court in connection with a case against Chandraswamy. The court also appointed senior counsel Anil Divan as an amicus curiae (friend of the court) to assist the judges while telling Swamy that his role in the case was over after bringing it to the court. The petitioner (Swamy) has no independent or additional right in the conduct of proceedings in the case hereafter, the judges said. The Janata Party leader bowed to the court.

In the petition, Swamy alleged that the CBI and other government agencies had failed to perform their duty by not fully investigating the Rs 2,000-crore loan fraud. This, submitted the petitioner, was because persons occupying high positions, including the Union finance minister, were interested in suppressing the probe. According to Swamy, Tamil Maanila Congress leaders also had a role in the scam and since they are partners in the ruling coalition, the investigations are progressing at a slow pace.

While the court stated that the petition needed to be entertained, it clarified that it was not interested in the petitioners political battles with several of the respondents who were leaders of political parties. Therefore, the names of P Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president M Karunanidhi, TMC chief G K Moopanar, RBI governor and the present chairman of the bank were dropped.