In a major development in the Saradha scam case, the Calcutta High Court has reportedly renounced the interim order protecting the arrest of senior IPS officer and ex Kolkata Police chief, Rajeev Kumar by CBI. Delivering the order, Justice Madhumati Mitra said a “blanket protection of not arresting is not available in law and would amount to unnecessary interfering with the investigation.” Mamata Banerjee has lost the political battle that she had started.
The High Court observed that the counsel for the petitioner has failed to substantiate that the investigating agency (CBI in the case) is harassing him or trying to injure his reputation.
Justice Mitra also said, the allegation that the former Kolkata Police Commissioner was being singled out couldn’t be admitted before the Court, because even officers superior in rank to Kumar had been interrogated by CBI.
Justice Mitra also said, “No one is above the law and the petitioner cannot seek special protection.” She also made it clear that the former Kolkata Police chief remains a witness and not an accused in the present case till date. Therefore, any arrest by the Investigating Officer has to be following the provisions of law.
It must be noted that the former Kolkata Police Commissioner was part of the SIT probe into the Saradha scam before the CBI took over the case in 2014. Also, the state of West Bengal had witnessed a political showdown earlier this year after the CBI landed in Kolkata to question the then Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam.
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee had then staged a political showdown by claiming that the CBI had arrived uninformed and was trying to harass an honest and one of the world’s finest cops. The Mamata Banerjee government then created one of the worst constitutional crisis in independent India’s history by detaining the CBI team that had arrived to question Rajeev Kumar.
Now, with the Calcutta High Court withdrawing the interim protection granted to him from CBI arrest and the CBI summoning him, it can be said that Mamata Banerjee has lost the political battle that she had started and as this case moves forward, the TMC might face even more anxious moments.
Former Kolkata Police Commissioner was interrogated by the CBI in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam case later on in Shillong. M. Nageshwar Rao, interim chief of the CBI at that time, had said that there was evidence against Rajeev Kumar. Rao said, “He has been instrumental in causing destruction of this evidence and obstructing justice.” He further added that the CBI is probing these chit fund cases as per the directions of the apex court.
Rao alleged that the Kolkata Police has taken charge of all the evidence, seized all the documents. He said, “They have not been cooperating with us in handing over all the documents and a lot of evidence has been destroyed or caused to disappear.” This goes on to show that the CBI looks at Kumar as a crucial witness in the Saradha scam case.
This development concerning Rajeev Kumar in the Saradha scam case can also be seen as a big setback for the West Bengal CM, Mamata Banerjee. She has been targeted over the Saradha scam for quite some time now and any development, in this case, does concern her closely.
It must be kept in mind that she had thrown all her political weight behind the senior IPS officer, Rajeev Kumar when the CBI had taken a step towards questioning him. It seemed that she was firmly opposed to the idea of CBI questioning Kumar.