Saradha scam: SC asks CBI for details on allegations against ex-Kolkata police commissioner
The Supreme Court said the CBI’s allegations were serious enough that it could share the information with them.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Central Bureau of Investigation for an affidavit with details on former Kolkata Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar’s connection with the Saradha chit fund scam and the alleged contempt committed by the state police. The CBI had alleged that Kumar had connived to tamper with call data records to help senior leaders accused in the Saradha and Rose Valley ponzi scams.
Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna said that oral submissions from Attorney General KK Venugopal on the actions of the West Bengal Police were not enough. They said the allegations against the police were serious enough that the agency should disclose details of them, Bar and Bench reported. “If what you are saying is correct, don’t you think it is serious enough for you to take the Court in confidence?” Gogoi asked. “If it is true, this is subversion of the rule of law and you are coming to Court only after the incident of that evening. Today we are not satisfied.”
The court has asked for the affidavit within two weeks and posted the next hearing for March 26.
The CBI had filed a contempt petition in the Supreme Court alleging that Rajeev Kumar, former Kolkata Police commissioner, and the West Bengal government did not cooperate with the investigation into the Saradha chit fund scam.
The West Bengal government and police had rejected in the top court allegations made by the CBI that they had obstructed the inquiry into the chit fund scam. The West Bengal Police claimed the CBI had forcibly tried to enter Rajeev Kumar’s official residence on February 3 without valid papers.
The CBI had interrogated Kumar in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam earlier this month. The CBI claimed that Kumar was absconding when it issued repeated summons to him in the case last month. The agency also alleged that the Kolkata Police had prevented its officials from entering Kumar’s residence on February 3.