The Bombay High Court on Tuesday expressed strong dissatisfaction with the conduct of the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) and the CBI of their handling of a multi-crore financial scam case, and directed them to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the allegations.
“We have no words to demonstrate the conduct of the Investigating Agencies– EOW as well as CBI. We may say, we are disappointed,” said the bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Prithviraj Chavan, as it was hearing a plea seeking a probe into big-ticket financial fraud by businessman Anand Jaikumar Jain.
Complaints filed with the EOW in 2021 and 2023, accused Jain, the director of Jai Corporation Ltd, of misappropriation of public funds, fraudulent trading, money laundering, and round-tripping of funds through shell companies. An activist, Shoaib Richie Sequeira, who filed a Public Interest Litigation, alleged that investor funds worth Rs 4,255 crore and additional public funds were funnelled through offshore accounts and shell companies to evade scrutiny.
The High Court remarked, “We feel that there will be no fair and impartial investigation into the alleged crimes either by the EOW or by the Superintendent of Police, CBI, EOW and hence, a special team needs to be constituted by the Zonal Director CBI to ensure efficient investigation into offences of such magnitude”.
“The need to instil confidence in the investigations and consequently, in the administration of justice, is of utmost concern. The case in question has national and international ramifications,” the bench added.
The High Court bench criticised the EOW for simply forwarding complaints to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) without conducting any preliminary enquiry.
“The reluctance to enquire/investigate was writ large during the hearing of the petition,” observed the bench.
The court further directed SEBI, the CBI, the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), and the Maharashtra Crime Investigation Department (CID) to examine the allegations thoroughly. The agencies were asked to submit their findings to the court within a stipulated period.