The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its order on the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) plea seeking custodial interrogation of former Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar in the Saradha chit fund scam probe. The CBI has alleged that Kumar had destroyed evidence in the investigation.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi reserved the verdict after hearing the arguments of the CBI and Kumar’s counsel for two consecutive days.
On Tuesday, the CBI was asked to convince the apex court with proof that Kumar’s custodial interrogation was necessary as a matter of investigation, and not something political.
On Wednesday, the CBI had placed in the Supreme Court a sealed report containing documents which it claimed proved alleged involvement of Kumar in tampering with evidence. On Wednesday and Thursday, arguments of both sides were heard by the court.
The CBI is being represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, while senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi appeared on behalf of Kumar and the West Bengal government.
Kumar has earlier told the apex court that he was targeted by the CBI due to “mala fide intent” and “conflict of interest” of the investigating agency’s former interim chief M Nageswara Rao. He has said that Rao’s family members were under the scanner following demonetisation and an investigation had been initiated by the Kolkata Police into the operation of some shell companies that had reportedly received huge cash deposits.
During the probe, the role of Angela Mercantiles Pvt Ltd had come to light and when it was being investigated, the names of Rao’s wife and daughter had come up. The Kolkata Police authorities had raided the office of the company.
Officers of the central investigating agency landed at Kumar’s doorstep on the evening of February 3 to “interrogate” him.
Kumar has also alleged that he has been targeted by the CBI as part of the larger conspiracy between two BJP leaders, and has named Mukul Roy and Kailash Vijyawargiya. He told the apex court that there is an audio clip where they clearly speak of “targeting” some “senior police officers”.
The CBI has earlier alleged in its affidavit that Kumar “did not disclose any information crucial to investigation of the chit fund cases and gave evasive replies”, and that he had not cooperated with the investigation. The CBI has also alleged earlier that “the demeanour, tone and tenor and the body language” of Kumar had “led to serious apprehension in the minds of the investigators” that he “tried all along to shield some body”.
