Bhubaneswar, Dec 24 : The Orissa High Court Thursday ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe into the alleged Rs. 25 lakh crore (Rs. 25 trillion) derivative scam.

"The two judge bench consisting of acting Chief Justice I. M. Quddusi and Justice Sanju Panda directed the CBI to probe into the matter," said Manoj Kumar Mishra, the advocate for petitioner Prabhanjan Patra, a Cuttack-based businessman.

Earlier the high court had asked the premier investigation agency to conduct a preliminary inquiry into the matter and file a report.

"We were asked to file a preliminary report. In the report, we had said that that the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) guidelines on FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act) were not followed properly. Now Orissa High Court in its order today
(Thursday) has asked the CBI to probe the issue," said S. K. Padhi, the counsel for CBI.

Patra had filed a public interest lawsuit in the Orissa High Court, claiming Indian companies suffered huge losses after entering into exchange derivative contracts to hedge their risk in fluctuating monetary situation. He alleged that the Indian corporate houses entered into agreement at a very low rate even as the forex rate kept changing, thus incurring losses of about Rs. 25 lakh crore.(IANS)