File Photo: Suspended Trinamool Congress MP Kunal Ghosh
The Calcutta High Court today rejected the bail prayer of suspended Trinamool Congress MP Kunal Ghosh, an accused in the multi-crore rupee Saradha chit fund scam.
A division bench, comprising Justice Anirudhdha Basu and Justice Shankar Acharya, rejected the bail plea of mr Ghosh who was the chief of the media wing of the Saradha Group.
The bench, however, observed that CBI, which is probing the case, ought to take an initiative to commence trial.
Mr Ghosh's counsel submitted that several other accused in the case had already been granted bail by different courts, including retired IPS officer Rajat Majumdar who was granted bail by the high court.
It was further claimed that Mr Ghosh, a Rajya Sabha MP, has not been questioned by CBI since January and that a charge sheet has already been submitted in the case.
Opposing the bail prayer, CBI counsel submitted that there was a deep conspiracy in the scam involving over Rs 2000 crore and that further investigation was on to unravel it.
As such, Mr Ghosh was required to be held in custody for furthering the investigation.
Mr Ghosh was arrested by the Bidhananagar Police on November 23, 2013 and was taken in custody by CBI on September 4, 2014, after it took over investigation on an order by the Supreme Court. He is, at present, in judicial remand.
Main accused and Saradha Group chairman Sudipta Sen, his close associate Debjani Mukherjee and West Bengal Transport Minister Madan Mitra are also in judicial remand in connection with the Saradha scam.