Bengal Govt to auction three TV channels owned by Saradha Group

The Justice Shyamal Sen Inquiry Commission set up by the West Bengal government to probe into Saradha Group scam issued an order on 13 January to auction three TV channels owned by the Saradha Group to raise funds to pay back its creditors.

The three channels to be auctioned are Tara Muzik, Tara News and Tara Punjabi, sources said. They were run by the now defunct Saradha Group-controlled Broadcast Worldwide Ltd.

A process to take over and run two of Group’s channels – Tara News and Tara Muzik – had earlier been initiated by the West Bengal Government. The Ordinance issued by the State government, for acquisition of these two channels, was put on hold after the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said raised objections to it.

The Ministry said it would be a violation of existing licensing law, which bar State governments from running TV channels.

“Three Saradha-run channels having 160 employees will be up for sale in order to repay dues,” Justice (Retd) Shyamal Sen told media persons.

The Saradha scam had come out in the open when various schemes went bust in April 2013 duping lakhs of investors. Police arrested its group chairman Sudipta Sen and CEO of media ventures, Kunal Ghosh, who is also an MP of the Trinamool Congress. 

Sudipta Sen, it is understood, had suggested the auction to return money to creditors. Around 17 lakh claims claims have been made before the commission.

Source: http://cablequest.org/news/national-news/item/4049-bengal-govt-to-auction-three-tv-channels-owned-by-saradha-group.htmlSource: http://cablequest.org/news/national-news/item/4049-bengal-govt-to-auction-three-tv-channels-owned-by-saradha-group.html