Tags:
Journalism of Courage
IT8217;S a fraud that8217;s not seen its end yet. In 1976, three businessmen started a chit fund in Kolkata with Rs 7,000. In just four years, the deposits in Sanchayita Investments swelled to more than Rs 120 crore. But in 1980, following many complaints over chit funds, the state government passed an Act, banning them. Sanchayita8217;s offices were raided by the state government8217;s Bureau of Investigation.
Following the raids, alarmed depositors demanded their money back from the company8217;s bosses8212;Shambhu Mukherjee, Biharilal Morarka and Swapan Guha. While the depositors were almost over a lakh, only a few of them got their money back. A couple of months later, the company shut shop and its owners went absconding.
IN 1983, about 5,000 depositors formed a forum and filed a case in the Calcutta High Court. Justice Manjula Bose ordered the appointment of joint administrators to seize Sanchayita8217;s properties distribute the money among the depositors.
In the same year, another group of depositers filed a case in the Supreme Court. The court ordered that a commissioner be appointed in place of the existing administrators.
The first commissioner NC Dutta, a retired judge, was succeeded by SN Ganguly who still works out of his office at Bankshall Court.
8216;8216;So far about Rs 30 crore has been realised and disbursed among depositors,8217;8217; says Samar Bose, who was an advocate in the office of the first commissioner and also fought the case on behalf of the depositors in 1983.
According to him, the main problem now was in attaching Sanchayita Investments8217; properties since their bosses had invested in them under fake names.
8216;8216;Even now some cases are in the Calcutta High Court over disputes regarding attachment of properties of Sanchayita. Even otherwise we8217;ve had to sell the properties much lower than the market price since we accept only white money,8217;8217; says Bose.
|
CASE FILE
|
|
| Lost Chit 8226; When the West Bengal government banned chit funds in 1980, Sanchayita Investment shut shop 8226; In 1983, 5,000 depositors formed a forum and filed a case in the Calcutta High Court 8226; At present, the criminal case against the accused is still on at Kolkata8217;s city court |
WITH the criminal case against the accused in the city court dragging on for 22 years, many have lost hope. Having lost all their life8217;s savings, some depositors even committed suicide. Some still clutch desperately at the promise of justice. Only very few have got back a part of their money.
As for the accused, Mukherjee committed suicide under mysterious circumstances. Guha was declared insolvent by a Delhi court and Morarka is untraceable. Tapan Guha, the elder brother of Swapan, apparently the brain behind the company, lives in Mumbai.
