No Further Chit Fund Probe In Odisha!

Cuttack: The hopes of investors for refund of money deposited in chit fund companies has been dashed to the ground with the office of the Justice MM Das Commission of Inquiry making it clear that it will have no further sittings with effect from March 3.

The state government had appointed Justice RK Patra, a retired judge of the Orissa High Court on July 9, 2013, to hear the complaints of the depositors and take necessary steps for refund of the money they had deposited with various chit fund companies. The Commission had received over 10 lakh complaints from people across the state.

Following the death of Justice Patra on January 28, 2014, Justice Madan Mohan Das, retired High Court Judge, was picked as the head of the Commission.

To complete the process of identification of small investors and refund their money, the state government had extended the tenure of the Commission a number of times. It was last extended till February 4, 2020 after the tenure expired in August 2019.

When the Commission got no reply from the Home Department despite several reminders for another extension with effect from February 5, it announced that it will have no further sitting on matters relating to the chit fund, sources said.