In Supreme Court, Kolkata top cop denies committing contempt of court

The CBI on Monday claimed inputs by central government in November 2009 flagging the possibility of such a scam were ignored by the state administration and the police.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the West Bengal police continued to trade charges as they filed their respective affidavits before the Supreme Court on Monday, explaining their stand on the unprecedented events that unfolded in Kolkata earlier this month.

Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar arrives after being questioned by CBI for five consecutive days in connection with chit fund scam cases, at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Airport in Kolkata on February 13.(PTI Photo)

On February 3, a team of CBI officers was allegedly detained by West Bengal police after it reached Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar’s residence to question him in connection with the 2013 Saradha chit fund scam. Later, chief minister Mamata Banerjee had accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government of trying to organise a “coup” in West Bengal and sat on a dharna to protest against the incident.

West Bengal’s chief secretary, director general of police (DGP) and Kumar on Monday denied committing contempt of court, as alleged by the CBI in a petition filed before the top court. The CBI, on the other hand, scaled its attack against Kumar and the Mamata Banerjee government.

The central agency claimed its preliminary investigation into the chit fund scam, as per the top court’s direction, had unearthed a large-scale conspiracy involving top government officials and those running the Ponzi schemes.

The Saradha scam, which came to light in April 2013, was worth over ₹10,000 crore.

The CBI on Monday claimed inputs by central government in November 2009 flagging the possibility of such a scam were ignored by the state administration and the police, which have for more than four years ignored persistent requests to hand over crucial documents related to the case. The last communication the CBI received from the state police claimed the said documents could not be located.

A bench led by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi had on February 5 ordered West Bengal chief secretary, DGP and Kumar to file their responses to CBI’s petition seeking contempt action against them. The CBI rushed to the top court after its officers were kept in “illegal custody” by the local police when they reached Kumar’s residence to question him in the Saradha scam. The apex court will peruse their affidavits and then take a call on Tuesday whether their personal presence is needed for a hearing on February 20.

At the outset, Kumar tendered his unconditional apology for any inadvertent disobedience of the orders passed by the top court. He said he was never in possession of evidence, material or documents and was not in a capacity to hand over the same to the CBI. In its affidavit, the central agency has claimed that Kumar continued to evade and escape being under the CBI scanner and refused to share documents recovered during the initial probe conducted by state’s SIT led by him.