New Delhi, February 4: A three-judge Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Deepak Gupta and Justice Sanjiv Khanna will hear Central Bureau of Investigations’s (CBI) plea on February 5 against Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar and West Bengal government for alleged non-cooperation in a case connected with Saradha chit fund scam. The CBI today filed a contempt plea in the top court against West Bengal's Chief Secretary, Director General of Police and the Kolkata Police Commissioner for wilful and deliberate violation of apex court's orders. Follow Live Updates of Mamata Banerjee's Dharna Here.
A political row erupted after Kolkata Police briefly detained five CBI officials who had arrived to search the residence of Rajeev Kumar on Sunday, who according to the probe agency was absconding fearing arrest in chit fund scam cases. Rajeev Kumar, a 1989 batch IPS officer, went slow or diluted the SIT probe in multi-crore Saradha and Rose Valley Ponzi scams, the CBI said on Saturday. Mamata Banerjee, Right or Wrong, The Only Leader in Opposition Who Can Take PM Narendra Modi Head-On?
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called for the dharna after high drama took place outside the residence of Kumar. Opposition leaders including, Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and former Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav extended their support to Banerjee.
Meanwhile, earlier today, union minister and senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad hit out at Banerjee. He asked whether the WB CM wanted to save herself or the top cop. Ravi Shankar Prasad accused the TMC government of delaying investigation in chit fund scam cases. Taking a dig at Congress president Rahul Gandhi over his support to Banerjee, Prasad said the Congress leader in the past had spoken against Saradha and ponzi scams in West Bengal. The Rose Valley scam is worth over Rs 15,000 crore, and Saradha scam is about Rs 2500 crore. The Supreme Court had handed over the probe to the CBI in 2014.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 04, 2019 07:28 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).