Mamata says CBI works like a PMO department
19 Dec 2014 12:18 AM GMT
Speaking to reporters outside Parliament, Banerjee said, “It is under the jurisdiction of the company affairs, SEBI and the Reserve Bank of India. There is no law for state governments to look into their affairs. What were they doing for so many years?”
“We raised the issue. We passed a law in (West Bengal) assembly that our state has not been empowered to seize the property in such cases and return the money to the government. We sent the law to the government (for presidential assent). Two months have passed, they have said more amendments are needed and sent it back. We again passed it in the assembly and sent it to the governor. But there has been no response,” the Chief Minister said. Claiming that Saradha scam did not take place during her tenure as Chief Minister, she said that the company was formed in 2001 and involved in the business actively till 2006. “In all these years there was a Left Front government in West Bengal but no one is raising the issue.”
“Not only in Bengal, but in Kerala, Tripura, Assam, Odisha such companies continue to flourish and I would like to ask what the central government was doing. Chit fund is not illegal, but in the name of chit fund, cheating people is an illegal thing. We formed a judicial commission after the Saradha scam and disbursed over Rs 250 crore to those who had lost their money in the Ponzi scheme. What were RBI and SEBI doing when chit funds were set up?” she asked.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) is the only party which is fighting a battle against BJP, who are trying to bulldoze TMC, says Mamata. Hinting towards state Transport Minister Madan Mitra’s arrest, she said, “It was political vendetta. BJP is jealous of us (but) democracy cannot be bulldozed or imposed. Their (BJP) attitude is dictatorial and we will not bow down before anyone, except the people of the country. This is a political fight and we will fight it politically and democratically.”
Maintaining that her party had no role to play in the Saradha chit fund scam, she questioned the credibility of the CBI and termed it as department of Prime Minister’s Office.
“If you talk about our MP (Kunal Ghosh) who was arrested, we gave nominations to three-four journalists as there was no representation from the media. They were not related to our party. TMC has no connection with any scam. Those who talk about scams should see that charity begins at home,” the Bengal CM said.
“We raised the issue. We passed a law in (West Bengal) assembly that our state has not been empowered to seize the property in such cases and return the money to the government. We sent the law to the government (for presidential assent). Two months have passed, they have said more amendments are needed and sent it back. We again passed it in the assembly and sent it to the governor. But there has been no response,” the Chief Minister said. Claiming that Saradha scam did not take place during her tenure as Chief Minister, she said that the company was formed in 2001 and involved in the business actively till 2006. “In all these years there was a Left Front government in West Bengal but no one is raising the issue.”
“Not only in Bengal, but in Kerala, Tripura, Assam, Odisha such companies continue to flourish and I would like to ask what the central government was doing. Chit fund is not illegal, but in the name of chit fund, cheating people is an illegal thing. We formed a judicial commission after the Saradha scam and disbursed over Rs 250 crore to those who had lost their money in the Ponzi scheme. What were RBI and SEBI doing when chit funds were set up?” she asked.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) is the only party which is fighting a battle against BJP, who are trying to bulldoze TMC, says Mamata. Hinting towards state Transport Minister Madan Mitra’s arrest, she said, “It was political vendetta. BJP is jealous of us (but) democracy cannot be bulldozed or imposed. Their (BJP) attitude is dictatorial and we will not bow down before anyone, except the people of the country. This is a political fight and we will fight it politically and democratically.”
Maintaining that her party had no role to play in the Saradha chit fund scam, she questioned the credibility of the CBI and termed it as department of Prime Minister’s Office.
“If you talk about our MP (Kunal Ghosh) who was arrested, we gave nominations to three-four journalists as there was no representation from the media. They were not related to our party. TMC has no connection with any scam. Those who talk about scams should see that charity begins at home,” the Bengal CM said.
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