Mutual fund managers across the country are up in arms over what they see as "politicisation of the industry" and the price they have to pay as a few are held to ransom by self-serving politicians.
So long silent and keeping a relatively low profile fund managers have been stung by way that they are repeatedly being used as whipping boys by certain political elements for no fault of their own.
This reaction comes in the wake of a Nationalist Congress Party activitist, S Vaishnav, urging intelligence agencies - particularly the Cental Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate certain fund houses such as IL&FS Mutual Fund, Alliance Mutual Fund, Birla SunLife Asset Management Company and Sun F&C Mutual Fund among others with regard to their proximity to broker Ketan Parekh and whether some of their fund managers had offered him an exit route by buying infotech and media stocks at high prices.
The chairman of Association of Mutual Funds of India, A P Kurian, said: "There is a law of the land," pointing out that if there was anything wrong then it could referred to the proper authorities including the regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India.
"This is not the way to handle the issue," he said, in reference to the way that politicial parties were creating a hysteria about the entire matter.
This is however the first that fund managers are being directly blamed and accused of having a nexus with brokers involved in the stocks price manipulation of March this year.
In fact according to market sources, Vaishnav is also reported to be virtually running a campaign and putting up posters in public places 'thanking' the CBI for its probe into Unit Trust of India.
He is learnt to be especially targeting the tech schemes of the fund houses, through the accommodation is supposed to have provided to Parekh.
Apart from the CBI, the economic offences wing of the Mumbai Police is also being moved to look into the matter.
Understandably most of the fund managers were too apprehensive to go on record - but the underlying feeling is one of uneasiness.
The fact that they might not be immune to investigation first came home to them in April when there were rumours (then) that UTI might be probed for its role in the scam.
This was further bolstered when investigations threw up Cyberspace which proved to be the nemesis so far as some of their top officials were concerned.
The unfortunate reality is that there were many investments such as Cyberspace which have gone bad for mutual funds. "But can we be victimisd for that," lamented a fund manager, belonging to a fund on the probe list.
