JOIN USThe Supreme Court is to pronounce its judgement on a plea by the CBI on Friday. The plea regards the custodial interrogation of West Bengal IPS officer ADG Rajeev Kumar, for allegedly tampering with the evidence in multi-thousand crore Saradha chit fund scam case.
The court would also deliver its orders on a separate plea by the CBI for contempt action against WB chief secretary Malay Kumar De and others, for allegedly obstructing the probe.
Notably, Kumar was removed by the Election Commission on Wednesday, following the arson and violent clashes during BJP president Amit Shah's road show a day before. He was attached with the Union Home Ministry.
The CBI has filed an application for modification of the apex court's order of February 5, that granted Kumar protection from arrest.
On February 5, the court had directed Kumar, who headed the SIT before handing over the scam probe to the CBI and "faithfully" cooperate.
On his part, Kumar allegedly did not hand over entire case records and evidence related to the Saradha case. The probe into chit fund scam was transferred to the CBI by the top court on May 9, 2014.
The CBI also sought contempt action against Kumar, then Kolkata police commissioner and WB Chief Secretary and DGP, for “wilful disobedience”, “tampering” and “assault” on its sleuths, who were out to question him in the probe in the case on February 3. The issue had snowballed into a controversy, as WB Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sat on 'Dharna', claiming the CBI wanted to harass the officer.
The West Bengal government and Kumar, for their part, accused the CBI of making a “politically motivated” move to arrest him. They claimed the latest move by the CBI was “nothing but a political game to keep the pot boiling.”