The West Bengal government and its ruling party Trinamool Congress moved the Supreme Court on Monday and demanded a court-monitored probe into the Saradha chit fund scam, accusing the BJP-led Centre of using the CBI as a political tool. Representing the state government, senior advocate Kapil Sibal mentioned the plea before a bench led by Justice T S Thakur and pleaded for an urgent hearing. The bench is likely to hear the matter on Thursday. Sibal alleged that the CBI was leaking crucial information to others even before they reached the state government or persons concerned were sent notices. He referred to the court order in May last year, wherein the bench had left it open for the parties to approach it in case further directions were required. The apex court had then ordered a CBI probe into the chit-fund scams in West Bengal, Orissa and Assam in which various companies, including Saradha Group, were named. The applications have been separately filed by the state government and TMC. “It appears that the CBI is now merely acting as an instrument in the hands of the ruling government at the Centre and seems to be conducting the investigation to strategically target prominent leaders of one political party (being the All India Trinamool Congress) so as to destabilise the state government and try and leave the party bereft of leaders at the helm; in line with the political agenda of the ruling government at the Centre,” the TMC alleged in its plea. It sought a direction to the CBI to desist from leaking the details of investigation, while adding that the central agency probe was directed towards “victimising and destabilising” the TMC leadership and furthering the “political propaganda” of BJP, it claimed. It added: “Functionaries of the ruling Central government and its political party, more specifically Amit Shah, Rahul Sinha and Siddharth Nath Singh, regularly release press statements and threats which are diligently carried out by the CBI in tune with the political agenda of the ruling party.” Meanwhile, the West Bengal government, in its applications, has sought a direction to the CBI to expeditiously conduct trial of the registered cases and also take up investigations in relation to non-Saradha chit fund scams. It claimed that the CBI has so far registered 76 cases relating to Saradha Group of companies whereas only 65 out of 527 cases were lodged in respect of other chit fund firms.
