Mining: Lawyer-politicians caught in conflict of interests

New Delhi: Lawyer-politicians Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Pinaki Mishra, who appeared on behalf of different mining companies before the Justice MB Shah Commission, have brought back into focus the issue of conflict of interest that many representatives simply shrug off.

Singhvi, who is a Congress spokesperson and a Rajya Sabha MP, appeared before the Commission for Aditya Birla Group company Essel Mining, which has been accused of illegal extraction of ore worth Rs 4,368.75 crore. Singhvi also appeared for the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI), which represents 350 mining companies. FIMI interfaces with the Centre for promotion of miners’ interest. Incidentally, FIMI president HC Daga is an advisor to Essel Mining, the other company that Singhvi represented.

Mishra, a Biju Janata Dal (BJD) Lok Sabha representative from Puri, represented Kalinga Mining Corporation and Sarda Mines Private Limited, both of which are accused of holding illegal ore worth Rs 3,485.89 crore (Sarda Mines-Rs 2,845.58 crore and Kalinga Mining-Rs 640.023 crore). Mishra even defended the companies against the interest of his own government in Odisha.

The Commission probed mining activity in Odisha, and concluded in its report, recently tabled in Parliament, that most mining activity in the state between 2008-2011 defied laid-down rules and was carried out under political patronage. In Mishra’s cases, the pane irected the Odisha government to recover Rs 59,200 crore from them and use it to develop Keonjhar and Sundargarh districts to help the tribals impacted by mining.

Both Singhvi and Mishra defended their actions, saying there was no conflict between their legal profession and their political allegiance. But Dr Arun Gupta, convener of Alliance Against Conflict of Interest, said that lawyers-turned-politicians do take advantage of vagueness of conflict of interest. “It (conflict of interest) is a serious issue biting into the integrity quotient of the Parliament, where a person from business class or his legal representative could have potential conflict while participating in parliamentary deliberations on public policy,” said Gupta.

Singhvi said he represented an association of mining companies and not any individual group. “This was in discharge of my professional duties as a senior counsel along with Ram Jethmalani, Gopal Subramanyam, Anil Dewan and others. It is not a conflict,” said Singhvi and added that as a senior counsel he was briefed by other lawyers, who held the vakalatnama for clients. “We have no connections with the client.”

Mishra said any potential conflict of interest would have arisen if he had defended the company on the floor of the House and reminded that he has never appeared before any court on behalf of government and has never been on any government-appointed committee or board. “As an MP, if I had raised the issue and spoken in the House without disclosing my interest then I would have been liable for indulging in conflict of interest,” said Mishra. “There is no connection between my party BJD and mining companies. As a professional, I was doing my service and I have no truck thereafter with these companies either.”

As many as 92 Rajya Sabha MPs have declared pecuniary interests in the register of interest under Rule 293, which contains crucial information about the financial and business interests of MPs, according to a study compiled by the Association of Democratic Rights (ADR). Incidentally, Singhvi, at Rs 50 crore, has declared the highest amount received from ‘professional engagements’.
Courtesy:
Iftikhar Gilani @iftikhargilani
Published Date:  Feb 17, 2014
http://epaper.dnaindia.com/story.aspx?id=59993&boxid=32061&ed_date=2014-2-17&ed_code=820009&ed_page=10

Chit fund scam dupes 7 lakh in Odisha

After the Saradha group financial fraud cases in West Bengal, Odisha is hit by scam.

When school teacher Basudev Mohapatra retired in 2012, he invested most of his retirement benefits, which amounted to Rs 7 lakh, with the Seashore Group that promised him a whopping 24 per cent interest annually for 6 years before returning his money. After a few months the interest payments stopped. The company even refused to return the invested amount. Basudev realised he had been duped.

“The company and its agent convinced us that if you keep your money in banks you will get only 8 per cent interest, but if you deposit in Seashore you will get 24 per cent. Since the company was running for the past several years in our area, we thought the government must have given it due permission to operate,” Mohapatra said.

Basudev is not alone. It is ascertained that nearly 7 lakh investors in Odisha are duped of about 20,000 crores of rupees by various operators. At least three dozens of such companies including Saradha group, Seashore group, AT group, Rose Valley group, Flourish India, Micro Finance group are operating in Odisha.

At least 177 people were arrested in different parts of Odisha the past week for their involvement in illegal money circulation and chit fund activities.

The crackdown on these firms began on May 10 and about 200 offices of 84 companies were raided, says Rajesh Kumar, deputy inspector general (economic offence wing) of the crime branch police. During the raids, police recovered incriminating documents pertaining to various chit fund activities in the state involving illegal circulation of money. Hundreds of accounts were seized and offices sealed.

Sources in the crime branch reveal that Seashore Group has duped over 80,000 investors and collected over Rs 600 crore. Seashore Chairman Prasant Dash was arrested and is now out on bail.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) lists 17 non-banking financial companies registered in Odisha and none are permitted to raise deposits from investors. But fraudulent companies attract depositors by posing as mutual fund firms and even as real estate businesses.

With regulatory bodies like the RBI, SEBI, the state finance department and the state police failing to act together, the fraudsters get away with hundreds of crores. “Multiple regulators and regulatory gap is perhaps giving opportunity to such fraudulent financial establishments to dupe investors.” said Jugal Kishore Mohapatra, Finance Secretary.

Courtesy:

Sunday, May 19, 2013, 8:21 IST | Place: Bhubaneswar | Agency: DNA

Debendra Prusty 

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/1836637/report-chit-fund-scam-dupes-7-lakh-in-odisha

Sardha Scam: Kolkata chit fund scam singes Odisha‏

Bhubaneswar/Kolkata: The virtual collapse of the Kolkata based chit-fund company, Saradha group, which has interests in fields like realty, education and media, among others, have rattled both West Bengal and Balasore district of Odisha in particular, as one of directors of the company was arrested on Saturday.

Citizens took to the streets across West Bengal, agitating against the chit fund institution after they failed to get back their invested money.

Irate mob, comprising investors and agents of the company, ransacked the offices of the Saradha group in several districts across the state. The protests even led to clashes with the police in some areas.

In Durgapur, an agent of Saradha named Yadav Majhi, committed suicide allegedly after he came under depositors’ ire to return their money.

One of the directors of the chit fund company Manoj Kumar Nagel was arrested on Saturday while it’s Chairman and Managing Director Sudipta Sen is still on the run.

The group’s connection with Trinamool Congress became evident after the party’s Rajya Sabha member, Kunal Ghosh, was appointed by Sen as CEO of one if his Group of Companies.

West Bengal government has already ordered Mr Sen’s arrest.

Pressure on its finances recently forced the group to wind up at least 10 media organisations, including newspapers and television channels it had launched or acquired since 2010-11.
Courtesy:
ORB April 21, 2013
http://www.odishareporter.in/top_news/kolkata-based-chit-fund-company-saradha-group-scam-singes-odisha