Chit fund scam: Saradha chief Sudipta Sen opposes CBI probe

Kolkata: Saradha group chairman Sudipta Sen, accused of duping lakhs of investors of crores of money, has opposed a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the complaints against him and his companies in an affidavit filed before the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday. He claimed before a division bench comprising Chief Justice Arun Mishra and Justice Joymalyo Bagchi that the Special Investigation Team investigating the case under the supervision of the Justice Shyamal Sen Commission of Enquiry was competent enough to investigate the matter. [caption id=“attachment_787853” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Sudipta Sen. AFP.[/caption] The division bench had directed the counsel of Sen to file the affidavit in connection with a PIL seeking a CBI investigation into the multi-crore chit fund scam. The matter would now be heard by a different division bench comprising of Justice AK Banerjee and Justice MK Chaudhury as the matter was on Thursday released by the bench comprising Chief Justice Mishra and Justice Bagchi. Sen, who claimed in the affidavit that he had never absconded, was arrested from a hotel at Sonamarg in Kashmir and is currently in the custody of Bidhannagar Police. Sen claimed in his affidavit that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Bidhannagar Police consisted of senior IPS officers and that the constituents of CBI are also IPS officers. He stated that there was no reason as to why the petitioners have no faith on the SIT. Sen claimed in his affidavit that Section 3 of Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946, under which the CBI was formed, states that the Delhi Special Police Establishment shall investigate only those offences or clauses which is specified by the central government by notification in the official gazette. It was submitted that the central government has not passed any notification in the official gazette for investigation of the complaints against Saradha Group of Companies and as such CBI cannot investigate the complaints against it. Sen also denied any connection with the state Chief Minister or any other minister of the state with regard to his businesses. The scam came to light after the Saradha group, which allegedly duped lakhs of investors of thousands of crores of rupees under different investment schemes, went bust in mid-March. PTI