The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday filed its first complaint in the 2016 Narada sting operation case against West Bengal ministers Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherjee, Trinamool Congress (TMC) legislator Madan Mitra, former Kolkata mayor Sovan Chatterjee and suspended IPS officer S M H Meerza.
In the complaint lodged at a special Kolkata court of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), all five were charged under Sections 44 and 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Hakim, Mukherjee, Mitra and Chatterjee were arrested by the CBI on May 17 in the same case and released on bail after days of judicial custody during which they were hospitalized on health grounds.
Chatterjee joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2019 but left after the March-April assembly polls. Mirza was arrested by the CBI in September 2019 and released on bail.
The ED is conducting a parallel investigation in the case which pertains to a controversy that erupted ahead of the 2016 assembly polls after the Narada News portal uploaded a series of videos purportedly showing a number of high-profile TMC leaders receiving money in exchange for favours to a fictitious company.
While the ED’s action came as a blow to the TMC, the BJP, too, was not spared as the agency named leader of the opposition in the assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, as a suspect in a separate complaint filed before the court. The second complaint also names Mukul Roy, who joined the BJP in 2017 but returned to the TMC on June 11. TMC Lok Sabha members Saugata Roy, Kakali Ghosh Dastidar and Prasun Banerjee have been named amongst others.
{{/usCountry}}While the ED’s action came as a blow to the TMC, the BJP, too, was not spared as the agency named leader of the opposition in the assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, as a suspect in a separate complaint filed before the court. The second complaint also names Mukul Roy, who joined the BJP in 2017 but returned to the TMC on June 11. TMC Lok Sabha members Saugata Roy, Kakali Ghosh Dastidar and Prasun Banerjee have been named amongst others.
{{/usCountry}}After reviewing the complaint filed by Rathin Bose, assistant director, ED, the special CBI court on Wednesday granted permission to serve summons to Hakim, Mukherjee and Mitra through the office of Biman Banerjee, the speaker of the West Bengal assembly. The court also authorized the central agency to directly summon Chatterjee and Mirza for questioning.
Reacting to the court order, TMC general secretary Kunal Gosh said, “How can we conclude that the ED is not working under political orders? It should immediately summon Adhikari who is a prime accused in the Saradha chit fund case as well. Why is he not being touched?”
BJP state vice-president Jay Prakash Majumdar said, “The ED is following the law. The TMC’s allegations are baseless.”
The arrest of the TMC ministers and leaders in May triggered a legal battle and political slugfest.
Following the arrests, chief minister Mamata Banerjee rushed to the CBI’s office at Nizam Palace in south Kolkata. She left after nearly six hours during which a few thousand TMC supporters assembled outside the premises. Some of them allegedly pelted stones at policemen.
Though a special CBI court granted interim bail to all four on May 17, the CBI refused to release them and moved the Calcutta high court challenging the bail order. The matter was virtually heard by acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Arijit Banerjee for nearly an hour late in the night after which the bail was stayed.
A huge contingent of the Kolkata Police and Rapid Action Force had to be deployed outside the CBI office and Presidency correctional home where the accused were taken.
The CBI approached the high court on May 24, seeking transfer of the case out of the state. The CBI claimed that on May 17 the TMC held violent protests, hampered the probe and intimidated the CBI court’s judge. Mamata Banerjee countered this petition.