Top court asks Calcutta high court to defer hearing in Narada case

A vacation bench of justices Hemant Gupta and V Ramasubramanian agreed to take up the matter on Tuesday.

The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Calcutta high court to defer the hearing in the Narada sting case to be held on Monday till it decides on the question of allowing West Bengal chief minister and law minister to file their affidavits in the pending matter. The top court will hear the matter on Tuesday.

The state government approached the Supreme Court on June 11 to oppose a June 9 high court decision refusing to accept affidavits by CM Mamata Banerjee and law minister Moloy Ghatak (REUTERS)

A vacation bench of justices Hemant Gupta and V Ramasubramanian agreed to take up the matter on Tuesday. The bench said, “We hope that the high court will not take up the matter on Monday and Tuesday.”

The state government approached the Supreme Court on June 11 to oppose a June 9 high court decision refusing to accept affidavits by CM Mamata Banerjee and law minister Moloy Ghatak in a matter where the Central Bureau of investigation accused them of leading a mob on May 17, soon after the agency arrested four Trinamool Congress leaders. They said that the order deprives them of putting the truth before the court in order to refute CBI’s allegations. The HC had said, “They (CM and law minister) have waited for the arguments in the case to be substantially completed before seeking to place on record their pleadings in response. It is nothing else but filling the lacunae or supporting the accused.”