Odisha chit fund scam; petition seeking SC monitoring of probe to be heard on Nov 14

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
New Delhi, Nov 9:

The hearing on the petition filed by Shyam Divan, senior advocate and amicus curiae in the Odisha chit fund scam case, seeking Supreme Court monitoring of the CBI investgation has been posted for Novemeber 14.

Moving the petition on behalf of Alok Jena, whose PIL led to the apex court ordering a CBI probe into the scam, on November 5, the amicus curiae had argued that the Odisha government had been creating all kinds of impediments in the investigation in the case.

Despite repeated reminders by the central agency, the government had been refusing to part with crucial documents needed for the probe to progress, Divan had said.

Paucity of staff and the refusal of the state government to extend necessary support in the form of men and material had hindered the investigation. As a result, CBI had been able to take up the cases of just four of the 44 companies under investigation though over five months had passed since the probe began, the amicus curiae had pointed out.

After hearing the arguments, a division bench of Justice TS Thakur and Justice R Banumathi had posted the hearing of the petition to next week.

The CBI is expected to present its version of things at the next hearing since the bench had wondered in the brief hearing on November 5 why the agency had not approached it if it had been facing hurdles in the investigation.