SC against monitoring chit fund probe

Bhubaneswar: The Supreme Court today reiterated its stand that it will not monitor the CBI probe into multi crore rupee chit fund scam cases in the State but cautioned the agency against any slackness in ongoing investigation.

"You (CBI counsel) please make sure that we should not be hearing the allegation that CBI is not doing the needful. The day we get this feeling, we will step in," a bench of Justices T S Thakur and C Nagappan said when a petitioner alleged that CBI was not doing much and the court should ask it to file status reports.

The bench, which termed the scam as "big" and an "eye- opener", said, "we are not monitoring it".

During the hearing, it referred to the verdict and said that "for the time being, we had refused to monitor the investigation."

The bench also asked the Centre to devise a mechanism or set up tribunals which can "attach or take over" the assets of erring companies and "distribute or refund" the dues, wholly or partly, to duped investors.

"I will put it to the government today," Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar, appearing for CBI said.