The State Government has taken a decision to open a Special Designated Court (Adhikrut Adalat) here to try all cases relating to chit fund scam in southern Odisha for which a Special Additional District Judge has been appointed.According to information, Biswajit Mohanty is likely to take charge of the judge of the new special court, which is likely to be made functional by the first week of September. The process of transfer of relevant case records pertaining to chit fund scam to this court has reportedly started. The court is aimed at speedy trial of the chit fund cases according to the Odisha Protection of Depositors’ Investment Act to provide relief to the investors, sources said.
All the chit fund related cases of the State’s ten southern districts, Ganjam, Gajapati, Kandhamal, Nuapada, Kalahandi, Koraput, Rayagada, Nabarangpur and Malkanagiri, will now come under the jurisdiction of this special court.Mention may be made that the chit fund-related cases were earlier tried in the Court of the Additional District Judge-1 headed by Justice Suryaprakash Kar. The cases of 32 chit fund companies have reportedly been transferred from the Additional District Judge-1 Court to this special court and the cases would be tried soon after the new judge takes charge, sources said.
Notably, directors of several chit fund companies are now in jail awaiting trial while several such cases are under investigation by the Crime Branch. The investigative agency is likely to submit chargesheets against Viswa directors Khirod Mallick and Debabrat Mallick soon, the sources said.In the mean time, the Crime Branch is keen to take some of the accused chit fund companies’ directors on remand for interrogation to expedite the trial process, the sources further said. Now, the investors are quite optimistic that the trial of all the chit fund scam cases would be tried expeditiously with the establishment of this new Special Designated Court at Brahmapur to provide them relief.
