State probe in Saradha scam lacks credibility
The Supreme Court has done well set aside the West Bengal Government's many objections to a Central probe into the Saradha Group ponzi scheme, and instead order the Central Bureau of Investigation to look into the financial scandal anyway. When the ponzi scheme collapsed in April last year, an estimated Rs 10,000 crore was lost, and over 25 lakh stakeholders, mostly poor people from rural Bengal but also from Odisha and Assam, suffered crippling financial losses. The sheer scale of loss and damage, cutting across State lines and including the possibility of money laundering abroad, necessitates a high-level inquiry by the country's premier investigating agency. Add to that the charges of complicity levelled against powerful members of Bengal's Trinamool Congress-led political establishment as well as the allegations of bias against the State's law enforcement agencies, and it becomes imperative that the matter be handled by a probe panel relatively free from the influence of State officials. Besides, the investigation conducted by the West Bengal Government has simply not been up to the mark.
As the Supreme Court explained to the State authorities on Friday, there are too many discrepancies in their probe which has naturally failed to inspire public confidence. For instance, State investigators have looked into only 550 cases of fraud while at least 3.95 lakh investors were reportedly duped. Similarly, the apex court also noted that the collections “far exceed the visible investment that the investigating agencies have till now identified”. The Bench referred to a report from the Securities and Exchange Board of India that put Saradha's collections at Rs 2,459 crore and noted that this figure was significantly higher than the Rs 40-110 crore that West Bengal Government has pegged as Saradha's ‘visible investments', primarily in real estate. In other words, the full length of the money trail has not been uncovered, be it deliberately or otherwise. Moreover, there is a consensus that State investigators have been unwilling to pursue leads against those at the helm of the scam and their political patrons.
In its defence, the West Bengal Government has pointed out that not only has it put behind bars the chief of Saradha group, Mr Sudipta Sen, the ruling party has also suspended tainted MP Kunal Ghosh from its fold. While both assertions are correct, they are also half-truths. The police has been reluctant to pursue other top accused such as Mr Sen's son Subhojit, daughter-in-law Piyali, and close aide Debjani Mukherjee. In fact, Subhojit and Piyali Sen were arrested only last month, not by State authorities, but the Directorate General of Economic Enforcement which is also investigating the case. Similarly, Mr Ghosh who holds the key to the corporate-political nexus underlying the scam is being ignored. Mr Ghosh was close to his party chair and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. He was also the de facto second-in-command of Saradha Group. His involvement in the scandal permanently stained Ms Banerjee's reputation as a clean politician, and even his suspension from the Trinamool Congress has done little to contain the damage. The CBI is expected to target Mr Ghosh, alongside the Sen family, for interrogation. Thrown under the bus by his party, Mr Ghosh may now tell on his former colleagues. Tough times lie ahead for Ms Banerjee, her party and her Government.