The Supreme Court on Monday expressed strong dissatisfaction over the State Government making a fresh appeal to the court seeking more time to file another counter affidavit in the multi-crore chit fund scam inquiry.
“Why do you need more time for your probeIJ It’s a mega scam and how do you think the State police and Crime Branch, whose sphere is limited to the State, can effectively investigate the scamIJ The CBI is ready to probe the case and you should welcome it,” the court said to the State Government counsel.
The court, however, granted two weeks’ time to the State Government to file counter affidavit, while asking the petitioner to file rejoinder within two weeks of the filing of the affidavit.
According to petitioner Alok Jena, the State Government sought more time to destroy evidences against Ministers and other influential persons involved in the scam and hence, was delaying the process and not agreeing to CBI inquiry.
Jena said, “On July 5 last, following the Supreme Court’s direction, the CBI had expressed its readiness to probe the scam. On July 12, the Supreme Court had issued a notice to five State Governments, including Odisha, seeking a CBI probe into the multi-crore chit fund scam and asked them to submit reply within four weeks.”