Patra panel fails to submit report, gets six-month extension

OST Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Nov 4:

The Odisha government has again extended the tenure of Justice RK Patra Commission of inquiry, probing the chit fund scams in the state, to another six months after it failed to submit its report within the specified time frame.

The Commission, in a letter to the Home department on October 18, had sought an extension of its term and had urged the state government to appoint a panel of at least three lawyers to assist it in carrying out the work as the number of petitions it received went up to several lakhs.

The Commission had to extend its tenure to receive complaints from general public time and again as number of affidavits kept rising.

While the Commission has received over seven lakh packets of affidavits, the number may touch a record ten lakh, sources said, adding that most of the packets contain multiple affidavits.

The state government had appointed the Commission headed by former Chief Justice of Sikkim High Court Justice RK Patra in July this year to identify the organizations that had indulged in illegal collection of public deposits and influential persons involved in protecting and promoting such activities in the state.