The Supreme Court on Friday declined to grant bail to former union minister Matang Sinh, one of the accused in Saradha chit-fund scam, saying he will have to wait till the CBI investigation into the case gets over.Declining bail to Sinh, the apex court bench comprising Justice T.S. Thakur and Justice V. Gopala Gowda said he could make a fresh plea for bail after investigation on his involvement was over."He is a very well-connected man," the bench said as senior counsel Harin Rawal, appearing for Sinh, told the court that he (Sinh) was not involved in the Saradha chit-fund scam."Home secretary of the government of India loses his job and you say that he is not well-connected," Justice Thakur said as Rawal sought to dispel the court's impression saying: "No, he is not at all well-connected."
Former union home secretary Anil Goswami was removed from his coveted post after it surfaced that he had allegedly tried to stall Sinh's arrest by the CBI over his alleged involvement in the Saradha chit-fund scam.Sinh was the minister of state for parliamentary affairs from 1991-96 in the then prime minister P.V. Narasmiha Rao's government."Let the investigation be over," the court said as Rawal told the court that eight accused in the case have already been granted bail.Besides other provisions of the Indian Penal Code, Sinh has been charged with conspiracy and cheating.
Rawal told the court that his client had nothing to do with the chit-fund scam that left thousands of investors paupers and he has not been booked under the Prize Chits & Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978.Rawal said Sinh was not named in the FIR, first charge sheet and supplementary charge sheet. His name only figured in the second supplementary charge sheet.The only allegation against Sinh is that he had sold some of his shares from one of his own companies to Saradha group of companies. He said Sinh was under restraint from Company Law Board not to part with the share of this company.The senior counsel said Sinh further sold some shares of his other companies to the companies belonging to the Saradha group and the CBI has alleged that money he received in lieu of the transfer of those shares was the one that the accused in Saradha chit fund scam had collected from the common investors.