Arrest of IPS officer politically motivated: WB govt

Saradha Scam

The West Bengal government and former Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar on Wednesday accused the CBI of making a “politically motivated” move to arrest him in the multi-thousand crore Saradha chit fund scam, at the instance of a senior BJP leader.

Senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for the officer and the West Bengal government, contended before a bench presided over by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi that the latest move by the CBI was “nothing but a political game to keep the pot boiling.”

The counsel was responding to the CBI's application filed for modification of the apex court's order of February 5 that granted the officer protection from arrest. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta furnished the case diary and statement of an investigating officer of the West Bengal police, among others, to claim that Kumar, who headed the state SIT, was giving him instruction to carry on the probe in a particular manner.

Singhvi said the CBI had not registered even an FIR under Section 201 of the IPC for destruction of evidence as claimed by it.

“It is alleged certain things happened four-five years ago. Same laptops and diaries were with the CBI for five years, but it has slept,” he said, saying the CBI was entrusted the probe on May 9, 2014 by the apex court.

Something fishy

“Something had happened in Kolkata which led to all this. I was kept at Shillong (where he appeared for CBI probe) for days. I was never evasive and silent. I have to murder someone and influence a witness to demand custodial interrogation. I am an ADG rank officer,” Singhvi defended the officer.

He claimed that a senior BJP leader (Kailash Vijayvargiya) addressed a press conference accusing Kumar of tampering with the evidence, which was contested by filing of defamation case. He also said the action initiated against certain companies allegedly belonging to the acting CBI director had prompted the agency to seek his custodial interrogation.

The bench, also comprising Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna, posted the matter for hearing the argument of senior advocate Indira Jaising, also representing Kumar.