Under attack: Naveen Patnaik

Bhubaneswar, May 31: The Opposition today cried foul over the chief minister ordering a judicial probe by a sitting judge of Orissa High Court into the alleged fraudulent activities of deposit collection companies.

The Congress and the BJP described the move as a ploy to delay the process of investigation and mislead people. Questions are being asked about how the government has ordered a judicial inquiry without prior consultation with the Chief Justice of Orissa High Court.

Lawyers have also questioned the move. “There is a Supreme Court guideline not to engage a sitting judge of a high court (in a judicial probe),” said Kamala Behari Panda, an eminent lawyer.

A Supreme Court bench consisting of Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice S.H. Kapadia had on November 27, 2006, said: “We direct that in no state a sitting judge shall continue as inquiry commission. However, where the inquiry was at the fag-end, the commission could continue until the report was submitted.”

Significantly, Orissa High Court currently has 12 judges working against a sanctioned strength of 22. In the absence of sanctioned posts of new judges for years, the number of cases pending before the court has already gone up to over 3.22 lakh.

Former law minister and senior Congress leader Narasingh Mishra said: “In view of the Supreme Court’s judgment, the chief minister should not have declared an inquiry by a sitting judge without prior concurrence of the high court. It appears that the chief minister is in search of an escape route.”

Past experience, he said, shows that judicial inquiries in the state had yielded no result. The Pal commission, which was set up to consider the demand for a high court bench in western Odisha, was to give its report within six months.

“After the lapse of seven years, the commission’s inquiry is not over. There are several such cases,” he said.

Accusing the chief minister of buying time to mislead people, Mishra said: “A special investigation team should be constituted by the high court to investigate the case. If that is done, no one will be spared and the investors will get back their money.”

Union minister of state for statistics and programme implementation Srikant Jena said the chief minister, ministers and ruling party MLAs had given credibility to these companies by attending their functions.

“Why is the chief minister scared? He should entrust the case to the CBI. Else, the crime branch should directly report to the high court. We have very little faith in the police as they are directly under the political executive of the state,” Jena said.

Jena further said: “What will a sitting high court judge do in this case? It’s the nexus between such companies and politicians that needs be exposed and steps taken to refund depositors.”

BJP senior leader Bijoy Mohapatra demanded that the state government file a petition in the Supreme Court to constitute a special investigation team to probe into the case.

“An ordinance should be issued to attach the properties of these companies,” he said.

On the other hand, panchayati raj minister Kalaptaru Das said: “All people will get a chance to file affidavits and counter affidavits in judicial inquiries. The inquiry can also look into allegations of political connections with fraudulent companies.”

Das also argued that no investigation could protect the interests of the depositors.

“A judicial inquiry can suggest measures on how investors’ interests can be protected and money returned,” he said.

Rejecting the demands for a CBI inquiry, Das said: “This is a state subject. The CBI’s credentials have already been questioned. The people of the state have confidence that the government will deal with the case effectively.”

Vice-president of the BJD and health minister Damodar Rout said: “The Opposition has a different opinion on this issue. I have strong suspicions about their involvement with the fraudulent companies. Out of fear they are opposing the judicial probe.”