High court-appointed Rose Valley panel under HC scanner
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A division bench of Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj and Justice Apurba Sinha Ray hinted at the need for an inquiry into the committee's functioning. Retired HC Judge Dilip Kumar Seth is the chairman of the panel, which includes an ED member.
Following the division bench's directive, the committee submitted a report to it. The court took exception to "misses and shortcomings" and noted there was no audit of the panel's functioning since it was formed in 2015.
The bench raised its eyebrows when the report claimed office expenses incurred for running the committee over the past 10 years were Rs 10 lakh only. Answering the court's query on who bore the committee chairman's salary expenses, a counsel said it was Chocolate Group.
The division bench had earlier questioned the committee on why it allowed Chocolate Group to run hotels and other immovable assets, which earlier belonged to the Rose Valley Group, when the HC had set up the panel to auction the assets and refund investors. "Why has the committee included a non-existent group, Chocolate Group? An inquiry into the committee's workings is needed," Justice Bharadwaj said. The bench expressed displeasure over the committee's workings with another Ponzi firm, MPS Group.
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