In a blow to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to interfere with the CBI investigation into the Saradha chit-fund scam in which top Trinamool Congress leaders are accused.
While the investigating agency complained of “severe intimidation” by the Trinamool Congress, the party and the West Bengal government run by it accused the CBI of becoming a “tool” in the hands of the Centre to destabilise the Mamata Banerjee government in the guise of investigating the scam. They accused the CBI of selectively leaking sensitive details of the investigation to the media, thus relegating the investigation to the status of a “media trial.”
Countering the allegation, the CBI accused the Mamata Banerjee government of desiring a “total gag.” It said that investigation revealed that the scam’s magnitude had risen to Rs. 2,400 crore from Rs. 1,500 crore when the agency started the investigation. The number of affected investors has burgeoned from one lakh to 18 lakh.
