On Friday, the High Court of Calcutta asked the West Bengal Govt. to inform how it plans to disburse an unutilised amount of over Rs 138 crore out of Rs 500 crore earmarked for compensating investors duped in the Saradha chit fund scam.
A division bench, comprising Justice Joymalya Bagchi & Justice Suvra Ghosh, noted that it was a declared scheme for compensating the investors, for which the amount of Rs 500 crore was allotted by the state.
The bench ordered the state to inform within 4 weeks, in the form of an affidavit, how it plans to disburse the remaining amount to the affected persons.
The Court also directed the State Govt. to place before it a report by the Justice (retd) Shyamal Sen Commission within 4 weeks.
The bench also asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is investigating the chit fund scams involving various companies including the Saradha Group, to file before it a progress report of the inquiry.
Subir Dey, an investor in the Saradha Ponzi scheme, petitioned the HC claiming that all of the Rs 500 crore earmarked for compensating the affected persons have not been disbursed.
His counsel Arindam Das said that as per a reply to an RTI application, the State Govt. has said that Rs 138.95 crore of the Rs 500 crore wasn't disbursed.
The state government had brought the West Bengal Compensation Scheme for Affected Persons of Saradha Scam, 2013 for giving away Rs 500 crore to the affected persons & had set up the Justice (retd) Shyamal Sen Commission on April 24, 2013, for identifying the victims & disbursing the money to them.
The division bench said that it will hear the matter again after 4 weeks.
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