CBI seeks sanction from LS speaker to prosecute 3 MPs

The agency sought clearance to prosecute Mamata Banerjee-led TMC MPs Saugata Roy, Kakoli Ghosh and Prasun Banerjee.

The Central Bureau of Investigation has approached Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, seeking sanction to prosecute three sitting Members of Parliament and a former parliamentarian in the Narada sting operation case.

CBI has asked the LS Speaker’s permission to prosecute three Trinamool MPs in connection to the Narada scam. (HT FILE)

Officials from the agency said they have requested the Speaker to let it prosecute the four MPs. If the sanction is granted, the four leaders may be named by the agency in its charge sheet in the case, officials added.

According to an official in Lok Sabha Speaker’s office, Speaker Om Birla has not yet received any communication from the CBI till Thursday evening.

Before the West Bengal assembly elections in 2016, some politicians and West Bengal bureaucrats were allegedly caught on tape accepting money from a journalist posing as a representative of a private company, CBI officials said.

CBI had lodged an FIR in April 2017 following a court order. The footage was also sent for forensic examination.