Indian SC bars arrest of Kolkata police chief

Indian Supreme Court has ruled against arrest of Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar over the Saradha chit fund scam.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has been demonstrating for Kumar, has said the verdict reflected victory of the people.

An apex court bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said Kumar should appear at a neutral place Shillong, Meghalaya.

In the ruling today, the Indian court directed the Kolkata police chief to cooperate with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in investigation.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the top court verdict is a “moral victory”. “Rajeev Kumar never said I will not be available. They (CBI) came to arrest. The court said no arrest,” Mamata said.

Mamata’s government has been locked in a confrontation with the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi after a team of CBI officers had visited Rajeev Kumar’s official residence in Kolkata on Sunday night to question him in connection with the probe he had conducted into the chit fund scams.

The CBI team was detained by Kolkata Police in a series of events that also saw Mamata Banerjee rushing to Kumar’s residence at Park Street. The CBI officers were whisked to Shakespeare Sarani police station and released at around at 8:40pm on Sunday night.

Attorney General KK Venugopal, who appeared for the CBI in the top court today, said the “unprecedented” events in West Bengal showed there was “complete breakdown of the constitutional machinery.”

Rajeev Kumar was heading a Special Investigation Team set up by Mamata government to probe the chit fund scam, said the Attorney General.

The CBI had termed Kumar as a “potential accused” and moved the top court seeking directions to him to cooperate with the federal investigation agency in Saradha chit fund case. The CBI had raised suspicions that the Kolkata top cop was destroying evidence in the case.

Mamata had termed the CBI team’s attempts to question the police commissioner a political vendetta.

The CBI has told the apex court that an investigation led by Kumar into chit fund scams "shielded guilty companies" and there was "inaction, selective action and a nexus between the police and accused." 

Meanwhile, both Houses of parliament continued to be rocked by opposition parties noisy protests over the CBI versus Rajeev Kumar issue for the second consecutive day today.

The proceedings in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha were adjourned on this morning amid vociferous protests by Trinamool Congress lawmakers.

A peeved Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said “you do not have faith in CBI. You do not have faith in Supreme Court ... this is not done ... the case is being heard by the apex court. Let Parliament do its function. Let all institutions perform their (respective) roles," she said while adjourning the proceedings till noon.

As soon as the House took up Question Hour, agitated Trinamool Congress members rushed to the Well raising slogans against the prime minister and the CBI.

Members from Congress, Telangana Rashtra Samiti, Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal also entered the Well but did not raise slogans.

On Monday too, Trinamool members had disrupted parliamentary proceedings over the CBI issue.

Source: thedailystar