The State government is considering setting up a special court to hear cases pertaining to the multi-crore I Monetary Advisory (IMA) scandal that has hit several thousand investors across the State, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J.C. Madhuswamy told the Legislative Council on Tuesday.
Stating that the government was empowered to set up special courts in such cases, he said, “Should we have a special court, and if so should we have two or three courts, are issues before the government. There is a huge amount of evidence available in the IMA scam,” he said.
So far, more than 50,000 complaints have been registered in the State against IMA, which folded up last year. The police estimate that investors may have lost over ₹1,000 crore.
Meanwhile, government sources said three legislators have approached the State government to set up a special court for speedy trial. “There are thousands of victims. Regular court may not be able to accommodate all the cases. A special court is needed. However, the Cabinet has to decide on it,” a source said.
Recently, the High Court of Karnataka chastised the State government for not providing the necessary infrastructure, staff and financial and administrative powers to the newly created post of Special Officer and Competent Authority for IMA. It also directed the government to take a decision within a month on the requests of the Central Bureau of Investigation for grant of sanction for prosecution of five police officers named in the CBI report and the then Assistant Commissioner of Bengaluru North taluk in the case.
