It now transpires that the original statement under Section 161 of Code of Criminal Procedure of Artha Tattwa (AT) Group chief Pradeep Sethy was suitably substituted so that the names of influential persons having political clout do not get exposed. This manipulation was obviously in the hands of the State police authorities under an able supervision of the leaders amongst them.
Some grassroots-level officials have been suspended or booked in the Ghangapatana land scam while the special road built on forestland there, allegedly by the Panchayati Raj Department, is desperately searching for its adventurous builder.
It is reported that more than 200 show-cause notices have been sent out by the Idco against the allegedly offending allottees. The results of the proceedings would indicate the strength and efficacy of the show-cause notices.
Details of illegal allotments and unauthorised constructions are available with the concerned authorities, but an adequate number of forces have not been made available so as to bring down the illegal constructions and evict the unauthorised occupants. The “Taskforces” may be able to perform the “task” but cannot achieve their objectives in the absence of adequate “forces”. “Tasks” are thus frustrated in the absence of “force” and the “forces” are diverted for purposes other than achieving the “task”.
Amidst this scenario there are large-scale unauthorised and improper alienation of lands belonging to lord Jagannath or lord lingaraj. From money grabbing to land grabbing, from encroachment to unjust enrichment and from squatting on Government lands to unauthorised constructions, the entire scenario seems to nourish a pattern of a well-planned cover-up. Something is definitely rotten in the State of Odisha with an organised effort at a super whitewash of the misdeeds of rampant and organised loot of the gullible poor or of many properties held in “public trust”. These exploitations have flourished over more than a decade.
The CBI continues to be under the litmus test and is yet to unearth the hidden mechanics of the money trail and the masterminding beneficiaries of such activities. It was projected before the Supreme Court that the AT Group had been subjected to a detailed investigation by the State police authorities and there were hardly any inter-State activities. The truth revealed so far, however, is to the contrary, indicating widespread illegal activities of the ponzy scam. Yet another entity has spread out internationally, and there are indications of involvement of the underworld in their activities in other countries, including the African ones. The investigation into the chit fund scams is bound to involve examination of senior elements of the State police, especially when their investigation appears to have been suitably guided so as not to achieve its legitimate intents and objectives. Steps in this direction should not be further delayed as there is every likelihood of vital incriminating materials being destroyed and the linkages in the money trail being kept out of the purview of the investigation. The task assigned to the CBI by the Supreme Court was quite well-stated and involved reposition of an enormous quantum of public “trust”. This “trust’ is under stressful test as the CBI is yet to properly probe into the transactions involving some Constitutional authorities.
The silent majority is discerningly watching the activities of the CBI and public expectations are quite high in this regard. The mutual patronage between money and power is by and large known to the common man. But this knowledge is in the realm of part information and part speculation. It is time that the CBI intensified its investigation so as to make it more purposive and meaningful. The level of efficiency of the CBI in this regard will inspire confidence in the concerned public to demand investigation through their hands into organised illegal mining and further into devastations of environment and ecology. The organisation of the Endowment Commissioner has been too liberal and the Temple Administration Committees have followed suit in selling out “trust properties” without any compelling demands of the “doctrine of necessity” justifying the disposal of the trust properties. Mindless exploitation of limited natural resources has been a source of unjust enrichment of a section of the rich and powerful. This has resulted in an imbalance in the social structure which is now demonstrating serious fractures that may be difficult to heal. Inability to bring the alleged violators of law, who have grabbed public resources, generates all the wrong signals and permits the exploitation to metamorphose into new “avatars” of public plunder. The bosses in the Government machinery, the barons in the media and the Babus of the bureaucracy are all in a cooperative venture of aggrandising themselves through manipulation of the resources and wealth that belong to the society at large. We are passing through a crucial period of trials, tests and tribulations. The alert citizen must become the social auditor of events and assert himself in the right manner so as to gear public opinion for the purpose of prevention of plunder of public property. The vigil has to be continuous and the voice has to be loud enough. And this concerns us all.
(The writer, a Senior Advocate, is a former All India Service officer, a former diplomat, a former editor, a former President of Orissa High Court Bar Association and a former Advocate General of Odisha. jayantdas@hotmail.com)