The Judicial Commission of Inquiry headed by Justice RK Patra, which is probing into the fraudulent activities of chit funds in the State, has now a gigantic task at hand to scrutinise over ten lakh affidavits it has received.
According to sources, the commission set up over a year now, has scrutinised only half of the affidavits it has received. But what ails the commission now is that it doesn’t have a proper database to store these affidavits for ready reference.
Sources said a team of Home Department officials would visit the office of the commission here on Tuesday to discuss the problem and make arrangements for a proper database. Meanwhile, in view of a number of chit fund companies approaching the commission and seeking to refund the investors’ money, the commission last month wrote to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) asking it to evolve a scheme to help the chit fund companies return the investors’ money. According to sources, a Kolkata-based company has already returned over Rs 32.56 crore to Odisha investors after taking permission from the Patra judicial commission.
The Prayag Infotech High-Rise limited has returned the money to at least 18,596 investors. The sources further informed that another company, Rose Valley Hotels and Entertainment ltd, has also expressed its desire to return the money to its investors and, accordingly, the company has placed a request before the commission in form of an affidavit.