Bengal passes anti-chit fund bill

The West Bengal Protection of Interest of Depositors in Financial Establishment Bill 2013 was passed in the Assembly on Tuesday.

The Mamata Banerjee government claimed it had more teeth than the previous similar bill which was passed by the Left Front government in 2009 but did not get President’s assent.

The Congress walked out in protest of the rejection of their amendments by the government. The Left Front staged a walk out over a chief minister comment. Significantly, both the opposition parties said that they did not oppose the new bill.

State finance minister Amit Mitra tabled the bill following the withdrawal of the 2009 bill earlier in the day. “It was matter of shame for the people of Bengal that a previous bill brought by the Left Front in 2003 was faulty and incomplete and so did not get the presidential assent. But the government did not withdraw it and introduced a new legislation,” Dr Mitra said.

He informed the House that the new bill offered stringent provisions of attachment of properties on defa- ult of return of deposits; power to enter premises and inspect documents; search, seizure and confiscation of property; competent authority and its powers.

Also, there was no amendment in the most controversial portions of the bill, namely the definition of Competent Authority (clause 8) and Section 22 (2) which empowers the Act with retrospective effect.