Kolkata ex-top cop granted bail in Saradha case
KOLKATA: The Calcutta high court on Tuesday granted anticipatory bail to former Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar, who is suspected of withholding and tampering with the evidence to shield influential people in the case related to the Saradha Group financial scandal.
The order, which came after a hearing behind closed doors that began on September 25, was seen as a setback to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The bench of justices Sahidullah Munshi and Subhasis Dasgupta ruled that there was no need for custodial interrogation of Kumar, but the officer has to appear for questioning whenever the CBI summons him.the court also said that the agency has to issue a notice 48 hours prior to the summons.
One of five lawyers representing Kumar, who asked not to be named since the proceedings were in-camera, said that if the former police commissioner was arrested in the Saradha case, he has to be released on bail by an appropriate court on two sureties of ₹50,000 each. Kumar is now posted as the additional director general of the CID of state police.
Saradha Group collapsed in 2013, leaving in the lurch thousands of investors, who had put their life savings in illegal collective investment schemes. The CBI has accused Kumar of withholding and tampering with evidence to protect influential persons who benefitted from the ponzi scam. Some of the items that a special investigation team (SIT) headed by Kumar, which probed the scam, allegedly withheld from the CBI were diaries and a pen drive containing details of payoffs made by Saradha group to political leaders and other influential people. CBI took over the investigation in 2014.
“...If the court grants anticipatory bail, it has to be accepted,” said BJP state president Dilip Ghosh.
Left legislator Sujan Chakraborty questioned the failure of the investigative agency to track down Kumar, who had been untraceable since September 13.
CBI lawyers had pointed out in court that Kumar appeared for questioning only twice though he was summoned eight times in the past.
The petition in the high court was the third application for anticipatory bail by Kumar. On September 17, he applied for bail at the district court in North 24 Parganas district that said it did not have jurisdiction over the matter. On September 19, the Judges Court at Alipore rejected Rajeev Kumar’s bail plea.