TRINAMOOL TO CHALLENGE CBI PROBE ORDER IN SUPREME COURT
The Trinamool Congress will approach the Supreme Court to challenge a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into a sting operation that purportedly showed a string of top leaders taking bribes, party chief Mamata Banerjee said on Friday.
Speaking to reporters hours after the Calcutta high court ordered a central probe into the scandal, Banerjee alleged the scandal — first aired on Naradanews.com in March 2016 — was sponsored by the BJP.
“Everyone knows this that the sting was published from BJP office…we will approach the higher judiciary,” the chief minister was quoted as saying.
Calcutta high court acting chief justice Nishita Mhatre and justice T Chakraborty asked the CBI to complete a preliminary inquiry in 72 hours and file an FIR, if necessary.
The probe sets the stage for fresh confrontation between Banerjee — who emerged as the fulcrum of anti-BJP protests over demonetisation — and the Centre. This is the third big scam — after the Saradha and Rose Valley scandals — that involves top Trinamool leaders.
The Narada news sting operation featured a dozen Trinamool leaders purportedly accepting cash from the representative of a fictitious company. Six Lok Sabha MPs of the party, three top state ministers, and the mayor of Kolkata were seen taking money on behalf of the party.
The timing of the ‘expose’ triggered a torrent of allegations from Mamata Banerjee who described it as a conspiracy. The Central Forensic Science Laboratory has ruled that the videos were genuine.
Narada news editor and chief executive officer Mathew Samuel, the Calcutta high court order on Friday spells relief.
Samuel, who is admitted in hospital for an undisclosed surgery, told Hindustan Times over phone that he expects some reprieve from an alleged witchhunt by the Kolkata police that forced Narada news operations to shut down in Delhi last month.
Nearly one year and a few days after the news website Narada News published a sting operation online purportedly showing 11 ruling Trinamool Congress leaders accepting money, the high court ordered a CBI probe into the charges.
“I haven’t even seen the order yet. I have just heard about it… Because of their witch-hunt, 45 people have lost their jobs,” Samuel said.
“The Kolkata police have been harassing everyone, from my journalist colleagues to my driver. They picked up my driver and asked him things like how much do I drink or if I have any girl friends,” he said.
Samuel said Narada News was forced to shut down after the Kolkata police sealed its office in New Delhi last month.
“It is a small website, some colleagues have been updating it using their mobiles. But the operation as such has shut down. The false cases against me have chased away investors,” he added. “If there is a fair and impartial inquiry, a lot will come out.”
Investigating an alleged extortion call made to a former