West Bengal questions before Supreme Court revival of contempt plea against IPS officer Rajeev Kumar

The West Bengal government on Tuesday questioned the "revival" of contempt plea against IPS officer Rajeev Kumar by the CBI in the Saradha chit fund scam case just before Assembly elections in the state.

Senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for the state government, contended before a bench presided over by Justice S A Nazeer that the CBI was reviving something which was age-old and that too before the elections.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the CBI, said the contempt always remained alive.

The court, however, adjourned the matter for two weeks.

West Bengal is scheduled to go into Assembly polls within months.

The CBI, in an application, sought cancellation of bail given to former Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar in order to subject him to custodial interrogation on the ground that he remained evasive during questioning.

Kumar, a close confidant of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, was alleged to have tampered evidence by providing incomplete call detail records and other materials in the Saradha chit fund scam probe. He had then headed an SIT to investigate the scam.

On February 3, 2019, when the CBI sleuths went to the residence of Kumar, then Kolkata police commissioner, to question him, the state police laid siege on the central investigating agency's personnel. The chief minister also rushed to his residence and subsequently sat on a 'dharna'.

Earlier, he was granted protection from arrest by the top court.