New Delhi: The Supreme Court has turned down the West Bengal government and the Trinamool Congress's plea for monitoring the probe into Saradha and non-Saradha chit fund scam cases by the Central Bureau of Investigation or CBI.
Noting that there was no allegation by the applicant that the CBI was not conducting the probe, the Supreme Court bench of Justice TS Thakur declined the plea seeking the top court's monitoring of the case and alleging selective leaks by the probe agency.
West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee had alleged that the BJP, which is trying to gain a foothold in the state, is using the Saradha scam to get back at her party since it cannot target them politically.
The Saradha Group operated a Ponzi scheme offering massive returns of 40 per cent and more until it collapsed last year, leaving lakhs of small investors bankrupt in West Bengal and Odisha. Trinamool leaders were allegedly close to the group's chairman Sudipto Sen, who is also in jail.