Trinamool, Left trade charges on Saradha chit fund collapse

Trinamool denies any links with Saradha Group Even as the Trinamool Congress leadership vehemently denied allegations of close ties with the higher-ups of the Saradha group that overnight shut down its “chit fund” operations and several media organisations run by it, the former Finance Minister, Asim Dasgupta, on Sunday charged that lapses by the State government had triggered the present crisis. The problem of such financial institutions that operate illegally raised its head several times in the State, Mr. Dasgupta said, adding that the previous Left Front government had initiated a joint investigation with the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and found irregularities in four major companies including the Saradha group. “The question is what has happened to those investigations in the past 22 months that the new government has been in power,” Mr. Dasgupta said. Asked whether any links between the companies being investigated and the Trinamool Congress leadership had been uncovered, he said that “certain allegations” had been made. Trinamool Congress general secretary Mukul Roy said the party “has no ties with these companies” which were set up when the Left Front was in power. Asked why no action had been taken against the offenders, Mr. Roy said “The State government has to work within the framework of the Constitution and can do nothing until a complaint is registered.” While both Mr. Dasgupta and Mr. Roy emphasised that the regulation of the financial institutions was largely under the purview of the Central government, AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh said that instead of a blame game, the focus should be on ensuring justice for the people. “This is not something which started during the Trinamool Congress tenure; it was there during the Left Front tenure as well. Instead of shifting the responsibility from the State government to the government of India and the government of India to the State, we have to identify all those depositors and agents who had been deprived of their rights,” Mr. Singh said. Mr. Dasgupta said the Left Front government passed the West Bengal Protection of Interest of Depositors in Financial Establishment Bill, 2009 that was awaiting the assent of the President since then. “What measures has this government taken to ensure assent to that Bill,” he asked. While Mr. Singh said he did not know about the Bill, Mr. Roy claimed that it had certain lacunae. “The law [proposed by the previous Left Front government] has several lacunae. So we have asked the Centre to return the Bill so that we can give it more teeth after which the legislation can be enacted,” he said. ‘Regulation of financial institutions under the purview of the Centre’ Stop blame game, ensure justice to the people Digvijay Singh