Supreme Court won’t monitor CBI’s Saradha probe

In a setback to the Mamata Banerjee government, the Supreme Court has refused to monitor the ongoing CBI probe into the multi-crore Saradha chit-fund scam or to restrain the media from reporting the scandal.

In a setback to the Mamata Banerjee government, the Supreme Court has refused to monitor the ongoing CBI probe into the multi-crore Saradha chit-fund scam or to restrain the media from reporting the scandal.

West-Bengal-CM-Mamata-Banerjee-has-been-critical-of-the-CBI-s-probe-into-the-Saradha-chit-fund-scam

The bench, headed by justice TS Thakur, also rejected the state government and Trinamool Congress’ allegation that the CBI was selectively leaking information to the media about the probe. “If the CBI is not doing the job, tell us...If there is some political fallout, we don’t want to say anything,” justice Thakur remarked.

The court declined to initiate contempt against Banerjee and the state law minister for allegedly obstructing the CBI investigation, adding it was for the probe agency to seek action against the leaders.

Senior counsel Kapil Sibal, appearing for the state, complained: “… every little thing is leaked out during questioning by the CBI. This is not fair, we want to say please uphold the rule of law and protect an individual’s right under Article 21 (Right to Liberty)”. “You want CBI not to disclose anything. The press is doing their job,” the bench said.