Even as all eyes are on the Supreme Court verdict in the multi-crore mining scam, the direction of the apex court for a CBI probe into the chit fund scam could well open a Pandora’s box for the Naveen Patnaik Government. For, a good number of Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leaders are likely to find themselves under the scanner over their alleged links with the firms accused of duping hundreds of crores of rupees from the public.
With the unprecedented turnout of voters in the 2014 elections keeping the poll forecasters busy, a wary Patnaik has made two trips to New Delhi within the last seven days leaving the political circles abuzz with theories. Political pundits say the three-time chief minister is in a state of discomfiture over the political equation that may emerge after May 16.
With the Supreme Court observing in its judgement that involvement of several political and other influential personalities wielding considerable clout needs further investigation, the Opposition has already mounted its attack on Patnaik. “We had clearly said that the Chief Minister’s Office was opposed to the CBI probe because several BJD members and officers enjoyed close links with the scamsters. The CBI probe should bring these aspects to fore,” said BJP leader Bijay Mohapatra.
When the scam broke out last year, the ruling BJD found itself cornered over alleged involvement of its leaders with some of the major chit fund companies that came under the radar. Even Patnaik was not spared. Since he had attended a function hosted by Seashore Group of Companies, the Opposition raked his party’s complicity with the company headed by Prashant Dash. Dash, whose business spread from bottled water to packed flattened rice to cruise line service was alleged to be close to Pyari Mohan Mohapatra when he was the chief strategist of the BJD before falling out with Patnaik over a failed coup bid in May 2012. Similarly, pictures of BJD ministers such as Damodar Rout and Surya Narayan Patro sharing the stage with Artha Tatwa Group chief Pradip Sethi also hit the headlines. Sethi whose company’s networth ran into over `500 crore set speculations when he commented that he had several leaders on his pay roll during his arrest last year. Several MLAs including Pravat Tripathy, Sanjay Dasburma, Pradip Panigrahy and Purna Chandra Sethi also came under scanner for their alleged acquaintance with some of the chit fund firm owners. Interestingly, neither the Economic Offences Wing nor the Commissionerate Police named any politician in their investigation reports or chargesheets.
However, by mandating CBI with the probe, the apex court has made its intentions clear. “Investigation by the State Police in a scam that involves thousands of crores collected from the public allegedly because of the patronage of people occupying high positions in the system will hardly carry conviction especially when even the regulators who were expected to prevent or check such a scam appear to have turned a blind eye to what was going on,” its judgement said.
The court has pointed out that the money trail has not yet been traced since the collections made from the public far exceed the visible investment estimated by the investigating agencies. The Ponzi scam in West Bengal, Tripura, Assam and Odisha ranges over `10,000 crore.
The affidavit filed by the Odisha Government before the Supreme Court put the total number of companies involved in the chit fund scam at 163 and these firms are alleged to have collected `4,565 crore out of which `2,904 crore alone has been collected by 43 companies including the ones like Seashore, AT Group, Green Ray International, Saradha Group of Companies, Rose Valley, Astha International among others.