In yet another interesting order, a division bench of Calcutta High Court hearing a PIl demanding CBI inquiry into the multi-crore Saradha chit-fund case on Thursday ruled that there was no immediate need for a CBI probe but reminded that it would closely watch the investigations proceedings carried on by the State police.
The next date of hearing was fixed for June 5.
Delivering an interim order, case division Bench of Justices Ashim Kumar Banerjee and MK Chowdhury on Thursday said that “time has not come” for the CBI probe but said it would give its final judgment only after hearing the case fully.
“We feel that time has not come yet” the court said, adding the plea would only be considered “after the perusal of the pleadings by the respective parties.” The court said disposing of the case immediately would amount to “subserving justice.”
Even as the court insisted that the “the petitioner’s plea has not been rejected and may be accepted at a later stage.”
The case was earlier being heard by Chief Justice Arun Mishra and Justice Joymalya Bagchi. It was transferred to the new bench as Chief Justice Mishra would not be available from Friday.
Petitioner and advocate Subroto Mukherjee who contended that the State Government neither had legal tools nor infrastructure to probe Saradha scam which had national and even international dimensions later indicated that he might move the Supreme Court against Thursday’s order as “any delay in the disposal of the case might prove vital for investigation particularly at a time when the names of political high-ups have come in such a big way in the scam.”
He said, “Only the CBI and not the State is capable of conducting the probe” even as the court directed the Bidhanagar police currently conducting the investigations to hand over the relevant files to the Enforcement Directorate which it had earlier allowed to conduct a probe into the case.
Curiously prime accused Sudipta Sen had on Wednesday made a volte-face petitioning the court not to allow a CBI inquiry into the case in sharp contrast to his earlier letter to the CBI requesting it to investigate the case as many politicians were involved in the scam.