Supreme Court tightens noose on chit fund accused

AS the CBI probe into multicrore Saradha and ponzi schemes gained momentum, the Supreme Court on Monday termed these as "grave offences" and said courts cannot be liberal in granting bail to the accused in the cases.

"You take crores of money from people. For most of the victims the money is their hard-earned lifelong savings. Then the accused comes to court and say they have taken only a few thousands. These are grave offences," a bench headed by Justice TS Thakur said.

Justice Thakur said before granting bail the judge should satisfy himself after going through the facts of the case as in many cases the charges against each accused may be much more serious than what the lawyers representing them tell the court.

The bench said this while dismissing the anticipatory bail plea of one Abu Sadeque Ishtiak Ahmed Choudhury, an alleged mastermind of chit fund scam in Tripura and Assam.

Managing director of Daffodils Associates Limited, Choudhury had been on the run since last October when the CBI started probing a chit fund scam in which his company had allegedly duped investors of nearly Rs 11 crore.

Choudhury was hiding in Kolkata from where he was nabbed by a team of CBI officers.

He had allegedly promised investors of higher rate of return against their deposits raised by issuance of certificates of shares and booking of flats and plots. He escaped from the state without refunding money, the CBI said.

"The Rs 48,000 you are saying may be the tip of the iceberg. Like in all cases, there may be much more below the iceberg. It is also to be noted that the scam is rampant in Assam and Tripura. We will not grant you bail. Surrender before the court competent and request for bail," Justice Thakur told Choudhury's lawyer.

The comments come a month after the apex court for the first time directly slammed Sebi and RBI saying they were largely responsible for scams of such magnitude not just taking birth but flourish unhindered.

Three TMC leaders, including West Bengal Transport Minister Madan Mitra, TMC MP Srinjoy Bose and Kunal Ghosh, are all lodged in jail in connection with the scam.

Several TMC leaders have also been questioned by the CBI in last few months. Recently, ex-Union minister Matang Sinh was also arrested in connection with the scam.

The bench, which had earlier transferred the cases to CBI, allowed the West Bengal and Assam police to proceed with prosecution in 193 matters related to Saradha scam in which the state police has filed chargesheets before the competent courts.

(In asssociation with Mail Today Bureau)