Kolkata: The spectre of the Saradha Ponzi scam has returned to haunt Mamata Banerjee and her party, the Trinamool Congress, and the timing couldn't have been more significant. Taking the mantle away from the Bengal police and the special investigation team, the Supreme Court ordered transfer of investigation into the scam to the CBI.
The scam involves a fraud of thousands of crores and has allegedly cheated over 15 lakh depositors in Bengal and its adjacent states. The order came barely 72 hours ahead of the all-important final phase of polling on May 12 and in which TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee has very high stakes.
The apex court has transferred the probe to the CBI on the following grounds:
- The volume of scam is too big and goes beyond the boundary of Bengal into adjacent states like Assam, Tripura and Odisha.
- Names of several influential political personalities in Bengal have been dragged into the scam and a state-appointed agency may not carry out a fair probe.
- Although the government has set up a commission to return money to smaller investors, the investigators have failed to identify the larger chunk of money trail which may have been moved outside the country by hawala.
- The role of agencies like RBI and Sebi have also been called into question in respect of the scam.
While the Mamata Banerjee government has been vehemently opposing a CBI probe on grounds that the scam masterminds are already in police net, the other three states which were affected by the scam had already agreed to it. The present judgment is clearly a rap in the state's knuckle which indicates that there are glaring loopholes in investigation and that the investigators may have been shielding more people than they have exposed.
Of the 17 constituencies which go for polls in Bengal in the final phase on Monday, the Trinamool Congress had won 16 in 2009. Banerjee would be desperate to hold on to that tally this time around in order to reach her desired target of 30 seats or thereabouts from the state. It remains to be seen what impact the Supreme Court judgment has on the voters especially when many of these seats are witness to a closely fought triangular contest, some even witnessing a four-cornered fight.
The Enforcement Directorate which is also probing the money trail has off late questioned several leaders like Arpita Ghosh, the party candidate from Balurghat and Manoranjana Singh, wife of Congess leader Matan Singh. It has sent summons to several other political leaders for questioning.
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