A division bench of the high court, comprising Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj and Justice Uday Kumar, on Tuesday pulled up both the state police and the CBI for the “exorbitant delay” in completing the probe and trial against Saradha group owner Sudipta Sen.
The bench was hearing a bail plea by Sen, who was arrested for allegedly masterminding the multi-crore Saradha scam.
The bench kept the verdict of the case reserved.
Apart from the two bail petitions pending with Barasat court, Sen has obtained bail in 387 other cases. On Tuesday, he moved the high court seeking bail in these two cases.
A total of 389 cases were lodged against Sen before and after the police arrested him from Kashmir in April 2013.
The CBI was asked to probe 76 of the cases. It had lodged a total of four FIRs and submitted charge sheets in the four cases in 2014.
“Even after 12 years why has the CBI failed to take the initiative to start the trial?” Justice Bharadwaj asked.
At the same time, the judge lambasted the state for its lack of initiative to start the trial.
In April 2016, former Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court Justice Manjula Chellur constituted a committee headed by a retired judge to ensure the speedy disposal of cases and the return of money to depositors and creditors by selling properties seized from the chit fund company.
After verifying the report, Justice Bharadwaj said: “Nine bungalows and a flat of the company have been sold only for ₹52 lakh. Is it believable? Who sold these properties and to whom?”
The bench also expressed surprise that the committee had disposed of only 500 applications out of around 20,000 filed by depositors and creditors.