Saradha scam accused Sudipto Sen to walk out of jail
Times of India | 10 April 2026
Kolkata: The alleged mastermind of Saradha scam, Sudipto Sen was granted bail in the last two pending cases on Tuesday by the Calcutta High Court after he spent 13 years in jail. The HC observed: "To deny bail now, in the face of a ‘stalemate' admitted by the state, would be to sanction an indefinite life sentence without conviction."
A division bench comprising Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj and Justice Uday Kumar granted bail in two cases registered at Barasat police station, the only ones still pending against Sen.
He had earlier secured bail in 387 cases, including 77 probed by the CBI.
The bench said it had to strike a balance between the gravity of economic offences and the sanctity of personal liberty. Sen is accused in a massive fraud that allegedly duped small investors through the Saradha Group, which promised high returns before defaulting. The state cited charges under IPC sections 420, 406 and 409. The scam, which came to light in 2013, is estimated to have affected nearly 1.7 crore investors.
At the same time, the court noted Sen's prolonged pretrial detention, which has exceeded twice the maximum possible sentence upon conviction. The 64-year-old, suffering from multiple serious co-morbidities and a recent brain stroke, argued through counsel that his continued incarceration violated Article 21, which guarantees the right to a speedy trial.
The bench also took note of serious administrative lapses. In one case, the state admitted that the original records were missing. "This reflects a shocking lack of care in the preservation of records in such a sensitive matter of such public magnitude. The fact that the system has remained idle without reconstructing these records for years is a substantive barrier that renders the petitioner's right to a ‘speedy trial' a dead letter," it observed.
"Where a decade is consumed merely in the supply of papers, the system has failed the mandate of speedy justice … the prolonged detention, the admitted administrative failures, and the petitioner's critical medical condition necessitate judicial intervention," the bench added.
The court granted bail with stringent conditions. Sen has been directed to surrender his passport and cannot leave Bengal without prior court permission. He must provide a fixed address to the Barasat police station officer-in-charge and is barred from promoting or associating with any financial entity, collective investment scheme or multi-level marketing firm. He is also prohibited from soliciting or accepting public deposits, directly or indirectly.
He must keep his mobile phone switched on at all times and enable live location sharing for continuous monitoring by the investigating officer. Any violation will lead to immediate cancellation of bail.
The trial court has been directed to reconstruct the missing records and conduct day-to-day proceedings without further delay. In one case, mandatory "police papers" must be supplied to Sen within three weeks.