CBI can quiz Bengal top cop
NO ARREST No coercive action: SC; Didi calls off dharna; both TMC, BJP claim victory
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that the Kolkata Police commissioner must cooperate with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), but added that no “coercive action” can be taken against him, easing a standoff between the two law enforcement agencies that has become the latest flashpoint between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Opposition parties, particularly West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC).
Rajeev Kumar, the officer in charge of the police in Bengal’s capital, will have to appear for questioning by the CBI but the meeting will need to take place at a “neutral” venue, which the judges decided will be Shillong in Meghalaya.
The CBI is probing allegations against Kumar relating to a chit fund scandal in which at least two million people were cheated out of their savings by the Saradha Group.
The case involved financial irregularities to the tune of ₹10,000 crore.
The scam came to light in 2013 when the company, which had several other business interests, collapsed.
The agency’s charge against Kumar is that he compromised evidence in the probe.
Ministers in the Bjp-led Union government saw victory in the top court order. Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the order demonstrated that nobody is above the law, including the police commissioner, and that it was a moral victory for CBI.
But, hours after the court ruling, chief minister Mamata Banerjee also said the order was a victory in her fight against the Union government, and called off her sit-in protest that she began on Sunday in response to CBI’S attempts to question Kumar.
Banerjee said earlier in the day that she would continue the dharna till Friday.
“We see no reason why he will not make himself available for investigation,” chief justice Ranjan Gogoi, who headed the bench, said, while also issuing contempt notices against Bengal’s chief secretary, director general of police, and Kumar.
All three have been asked to respond to CBI’S contempt petition by February 18, and the court may take a decision to summon the three in person on February 20, the next date of hearing.
This dharna is a victory for the people, victory for the country, victory for the democracy, victory for the Constitution
MAMATA BANERJEE, West Bengal CM