Pathanamthitta: The government has decided to set up a special court in Pathanamthitta for the trial of all cases related to the Popular Finance scam.
An official request will be submitted to the High Court Chief Justice for the setting up of the court, as per the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Act (BUDS).
All cases, involving Popular Finance, will be considered at the special court. It is being constituted to avoid the trial of the economic offences’ case getting delayed inordinately.
Currently, the High Court has designated Alappuzha and Thrissur courts as special courts. But since most of the accused and the complainants are from Pathanamthitta, the general demand was to set up the court in Pathanamthitta district.
The accused filed the bankruptcy plea also at the Pathanamthitta sub-court.
Procedures for setting up the court were initiated after Veena George MLA shot off a missive in this regard. The special court will have the powers of the district court. Appeal in cases, that were taken up at the special court, can only be filed at the High Court.
All the cases filed at various courts and the bankruptcy plea at the sub-court will be transferred to the special court.
The High Court will decide on whether the current district court should be designated as a special court or a new court set up. The government can constitute more than one court depending on the case. The firm had allegedly swindled depositors of around Rs 2,000 crore and hundreds of complaints were filed.
With the Popular Finance case handed over to the CBI, the complaints would be compiled and the number of cases would be reduced.
ED questions Roy Daniel
Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials continued the questioning of accused Roy Daniel at the Mavelikara special sub-jail for a second consecutive day on Tuesday.
The officials sought information on the assets and property owned by Roy Daniel on Monday, while they questioned about his financial deals on Tuesday.
Three officers questioned Roy at the jail superintendent's office after securing special permission from court. The team concluded their questioning by 4.30pm on Tuesday.
The two women accused in the case, who have been lodged at the Attakulangara jail in Thiruvananthapuram, will be questioned in the coming days.
