The Central Bureau of Investigation probing the Narada pay-off case has written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla seeking his permission to prosecute three Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha MPs Sougato Roy, Prasun Banerjee and Kakoli Ghoshdastidar.
The agency has also sought a similar permission for former Lok Sabha MP Subhendu Adhikary. Though Adhikary is currently functioning as the Transport Minister of Bengal he was an MP when the Narada scam took place.
According to sources in the CBI the Agency has “already sent threeletters to the Speaker seeking his permission to file charge-sheet against the four TMC leaders but we are yet to receive a clearance from his office.”
The Narada video footage went on air in 2016 showing a number of TMC leaders including MPs Roy, Banerjee, Ghoshdastidar, Adhikary, Aparupa Poddar accepting financial favour from Mathew Samuel the Narada sting journalist in lieu of future promise.
Names of Kolkata Mayor and State Minister Sovan Chatterjee, then TMC leader Mukul (now BJP general secretary), TMC leader and presently a BJP functionary Sankudeb Panda, State Ministers Subroto Mukherjee, Firhad Hakim and TMC MLA Iqbal Ahmed also figured in the pay off case.
Ghoshdastidar earlier claimed that she had accepted the cash for her party. “I had taken cash for my party and gave receipt too,” sheearlier said adding she would continue to cooperate with the investigators.
The CBI has already sent the voice samples of Adhikary, Ghoshdastidar, Banerjee and Sougato Roy for forensic test. On whether they were anticipating arrest, one of the MPs said, “I have full faith in the Indian judicial system,” adding “he like other TMC leaders were part of a big political conspiracy.”
Meanwhile, in an unrelated development the Bengal Government on Friday restored personal security of Sovan Chatterjee who had last August crossed over to the BJP following his differences with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The State Government had then withdrawn his security.
The new development came within a few days of Chatterjee resurfacing at the Chief Minister’s Kalighat residence on the Bhai Phonta (Bhai Duj) day.
When asked to comment on Chatterjee’s growing closeness with Mamata Banerjee and the restoration of Y-category security for him by the State Government, Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh said “anyone is free to visit any place. It is for Sovan babu to take his own decisions.”