SC: ‘Very serious’ revelations in CBI’s Saradha scam report

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 26

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to discharge West Bengal Chief Secretary and Director General of Police in a contempt case filed against them and former Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar by the CBI for allegedly obstructing the probe into the Saradha chit fund scam.

Their counsel, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, requested a three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi that the contempt proceedings against the two senior officers be dropped as the main allegations were against former Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar. He suggested that contempt proceedings against Kumar could go on.

But the Bench declined the prayer. “No,” CJI Ranjan Gogoi told Singhvi.

The Bench — which also included Justice Deepak Gupta and Justice Sanjiv Khanna — termed as “very very serious” the allegations levelled by CBI in its status report filed in a sealed cover on interrogation of former Kolkata Police Commissioner Kumar in connection with the chit fund scam case.

The top court said it could not “close its eyes” if some “very very serious facts” were disclosed to it and as CBI to file an application seeking appropriate relief or action against Kumar, who had once headed the state police SIT on Saradha chit fund scam probe.

Giving 10 days to the CBI to file the application, it asked Kumar and others respond to the plea in seven days and ordered that the matter be posted for hearing after that.

As Attorney General KK Venugopal and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said there were serious allegations against the officials, the Bench said it could not pass any order without hearing the other side.

The top court is seized of a contempt petition filed by CBI against senior officials of the West Bengal government, including the Chief Secretary, DGP and former Kolkata police chief for allegedly obstructing its probe into the chit fund scam and destroying evidence.

The Supreme Court had on February 4 warned Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar of strict action if it was found that he tried to destroy evidence relating to Saradha chit fund scam case in West Bengal after the CBI said it apprehended “destruction of electronic evidence”.

“If the Police Commissioner is even remotely trying to destroy evidence, we will come down so heavily on him that he will regret”, it had said.