TIWN April 28, 2018
AGARTALA, April 28 (TIWN): Former CPI-M Finance Minister Badal Choudhury has declined to be an accused in multi crores Rose Valley chit fund scam. After CBI had interrogated the ex-Finance Minister in the scam, Badal Choudhury said, “I am nowhere link with this chit fund scam. I am not an accused, but I was summoned by CBI as witness according CRPC-161, which is a very common practice. CBI neither questioned about my property, nor it asked about my links with chit fundsâ€. “Since 2002 from the Central Finance Ministry under Yashwant Sinha to Pranab Mukharjee, Tripura Govt begged for a central law to control the chit funds. I personally also talked to the then RBI Governor on that time and opened an RBI branch in Tripura. Not only this, with our attempts various local branches of banks were opened across Tripura so that poor people can save their moneys at thereâ€, Choudhury told media.
“Chit fund was never under the state govt, neither it was controlled by RBI. But under our govt almost all the charge-sheets have been submitted against chit fund companies. Around 8 to 9 charge-sheets have left to be filed. Now it’s the duty of the present govt to return the depositors money and also complete the remaining chargesheets”, he said.
The Minister also clarified that Rose Valley park at Amtali has occupied a huge areas of land, but Tripura Govt never gave any land to them. “The company bought all the lands from public for the park, but illegally occupied a huge area of ‘Khash’ land. State Govt also checked the matter on that time and the SDM took action".
The chit fund organisation -- Rose Valley -- is now under the scanner of the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI, and its sole proprietor and Chairman Gautam Kundu was arrested in Kolkata in 2015.
The Tripura High Court had in 2015 asked the state government to set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe unlawful NBFCs and chit fund organisations.
In May 2013, the earlier Left government had referred 37 cases related to chit fund companies and NBFCs to the CBI. The central probe agency, however, took up only five cases.
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