The amicus curiae of the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday said that a CBI probe in the multi-crore Saradha scam would not be “possible” due to lack of infrastructure.

Advocate Lakshmi Gupta, who was appointed as the amicus curiae by the Court, said: “The affidavit filed by the CBI says that it is not possible for the organisation to carry out investigation, unless the State Government provides them additional support.”

Hearing a public interest litigation demanding CBI investigation into the scam on Monday, a division bench of Justice A. K. Banerjee and Justice M. K. Chaudhuri sought Gupta’s advice on whether the central agency should be given the responsibility.

The amicus curiae also questioned the impartiality of the central agency and referred to the recent observations of the Supreme Court pertaining to the probe in Coalgate scam and the admission made by the agency.

No joint panel

Meanwhile, Gupta ruled out the need for setting up a committee comprising central and State Government investigative agencies. It would “not be feasible considering the practical side of the investigation”, he added.

Interestingly, he said that apart from allegations against two MPs of the ruling party, there were “no evidences of documents to raise suspicion on the entire State machinery as a whole”.

“The Court should not dispose of the matter and keep it pending. But, it can pass a reasonable and detailed order,” the amicus curiae suggested to the Court.

According to him, it is necessary to ensure that the investigation reaches a conclusion in the “shortest span of time” more than handing over the probe to a central agency.

Meanwhile, on returning money to the affected investors, Gupta advised the Court to “look into” the terms of reference of the Inquiry Commission formed by the State for solutions.

> ayan.pramanik@thehindu.co.in

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