Hundreds of investors in Ponzi schemes operated by Saradha Group held protests across the State on Monday demanding justice.
Public-interest litigations have also been filed in the High Courts of Kolkata and Guwahati demanding action against the chit-fund operator.
Angry demonstrators blocked roads in a number of locations in North Bengal.
In Kolkata, thousands gathered at Mayo Road in the central business district demanding payment of dues and arrest of the company’s directors.
Saradha Group, which collapsed last week, is estimated to have mopped up nearly Rs 20,000 crore from investors. However, the estimates are not confirmed by official sources.
The Group’s Chairman and Managing Director, Sudipto Sen, has been absconding and a “look-out notice has been issued by the State intelligence agencies.
PIL
Meanwhile, a public-interest litigation was filed in the Calcutta High Court by advocate Basabi Roy Chowdhury seeking CBI investigation against the Saradha Group and other chit-fund companies.
The petitioner also demanded the arrest of Rajya Sabha MP Kunal Ghosh, a Trinamool Congress MP and the CEO of Saradha Media group that owned several newspapers and television channels in Bengal, Assam, and Tripura.
The Guwahati High Court, today admitted a PIL by RTI activist Akhil Gogoi against Saradha and other such chit funds.
Mamata’s Ordinance
According to Left Front chairman Biman Bose, the proposal to bring an ordinance was a ploy to buy more time to bail out Saradha chairman Sudipto Sen.
“Bringing an ordinance is a time-consuming process, longer the Government takes to bring an ordinance, more time Sudipto gets,” he said.
According to Surya Kanta Mishra, Leader of Opposition, West Bengal Assembly, the State Government will require the President’s assent for imposing an ordinance.
“And if people think an ordinance will solve all the problems; that will not happen,” he said.
Talking about the Chief Minister’s proposal of setting up a commission under Shyamal Sen, Mishra said, “It cannot be of help to the people who have come on the streets…This commission will not have any right to work on the issues that come under the purview of the Central Government.”
Manas Bhunia, a former minister, demanded a special Assembly session on this issue.
“The chief minister can discuss this crisis with the Union Government without bringing in any controversies. The Union Government will extend all kinds of support to her,” he said.