Depositors who have lost huge sums in the scam related to the BSNL Engineers’ Cooperative Society (T-950) have urged the State government to urgently direct the police to also invoke Section 4 of the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Act, 2019, (BUDS Act) in registering cases against the accused.
In petitions submitted to the State government, the depositors pointed out that the police have listed only Sections 3 and 5 of the BUDS Act, but not Section 4 although it is needed to make the case stronger.
‘’The depositors have submitted petitions individually to the Home Secretary and under the aegis of the ‘BSNL Engineers’ Cooperative Society Save Forum’ representing the victims, demanding the inclusion of Section 4. We have also approached the High Court with this request,’‘ N. A. Abraham, convener, Save Forum, said.
Section 4, which deals with ‘Fraudulent default in Regulated Deposit Schemes,’ reads, ‘‘No deposit taker, while accepting deposits pursuant to a regulated deposit scheme, shall commit any fraudulent default in the repayment or return of deposit on maturity or in rendering any specified service promised against such deposit.’‘
The deposit scheme run by the BSNL Engineers Co-operative Society is a regulated deposit scheme coming under the jurisdiction of Registrar Co-operative Societies, and therefore falls within the ambit of Section 4, the depositors said.
The scam, which came to light last year, pertains to the embezzlement of depositors’ money to the tune of roughly ₹250 crore. Several hundreds of depositors, majority of them in the 65-85 age group, who had invested in deposit schemes offered the BSNL Engineers Co-operative Society, were allegedly cheated of their life savings. While key accused, including former president of the society A.R. Gopinathan and clerk Rajeev A. R., have been arrested, depositors allege that the investigation is progressing at a sluggish pace.
The Save Forum has also petitioned Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan urging him to direct the police to speed up the probe and recover the depositors’ money.
