Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday hit back at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for accusing him of trying to instruct the Enforcement Directorate in the Saradha chit fund scam.
“I do not monitor or give directions in individual cases,” Chidambaram said, wanting to know why the West Bengal Chief Minister was interested in the persons who are accused in the scam rather than being concerned about the victims who suffered as a result of the wrongdoings.Dismissing suggestions that he monitored the case, he said investigation in this particular case is on in the wake of a Calcutta High Court order. Also, a petition on the issue is pending before the Supreme Court.
Banerjee, whose party is facing the heat in the midst of lok Sabha elections in Bengal over the Saradha scam, had a few days back said, “Since election has come, you have sent the Enforcement Directorate, Chidambaram babu....I have heard that your wife’s name is there in the Saradha complaint. I have seen the FIR copy... law will take its own course.”Replying to questions about Banerjee’s charge against his wife, Chidambaram said that this has been clarified eight months ago that she had appeared as a professional and was advising another woman, who had contemplated business transaction. He said that the remuneration by his wife for this was received through a cheque.
He said that if ED had taken any action in the case, it has taken on its own and he was not even briefed on this as he was away for last three weeks.In Kolkata, Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi accused the Mamata Banerjee Government of trying to shield “the chief actors of this scam are those of TMC. MPs of TMC, contesting candidates of TMC are involved in the scam.”
Apparently taunting Banerjee’s simple lifestyle, Singhvi said, “Real courage is not to flaunt simplicity, but to take action and step in when some criminality takes place involving your own.”He also sought a CBI enquiry into the case.Responding to criticism from Chidambaram and Singhvi, the TMC said that the Union Finance Minister was raising the issue when the UPA Government had only 20 days left.
On Singhvi’s demand for a CBI investigation into the scam, State Finance Minister Amit Mitra dubbed the CBI as the ‘Congress Bureau of Investigation’.“Chidambaram is speaking about ED and another on CBI. This means neither of them have faith in either agencies,” Mitra added.