The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to give an urgent hearing to CBI’s plea alleging destruction of electronic evidence related to the Saradha chit fund scam case by the Kolkata Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar and said it will come down heavily on him if the police office “even remotely” tries to destroy the evidence.
The apex court said it will hear on Tuesday CBI’s applications which alleged that an extraordinary situation has arisen in which the top police officials of the West Bengal Police are sitting on a dharna along with a political party in Kolkata.
Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta filed applications on behalf of CBI before a Bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjeev Khanna accusing Kolkata Police chief of destroying evidence related to the case and indulging in contempt of court.
The Bench, however, declined the SG’s plea to hear the two applications on Monday in the post-lunch session. The SC said during the interregnum it will be open for the SG or any other party to lay before the court any material or evidence to show that any West Bengal authority or police official is planning or trying to destroy evidence related to the case.
Taking strong note of Mehta’s submission, the bench said “if the police commissioner is even remotely trying to destroy evidence, we will come down so heavily on him that he will regret”.
All material or evidence and additional documents has to be placed before it by means of affidavit, the court noted.
During the hearing, the SG said an “extraordinary situation” which has happened on Sunday in which CBI officials were arrested in Kolkata and Joint Director, CBI and his family were kept hostage. It was under this “extraordinary situation” that the CBI moved these applications apprehending destruction of electronic evidence, he said.
Mehta further alleged that on Sunday night CBI officers were taken into custody by the West Bengal Police when they had gone to the Kolkata police commissioner’s residence for evidence in connection with the probe in the Saradha scam.
Mehta said not only were the sleuths arrested, but the residence of Joint Director (East) Pankaj Shrivastav was surrounded by the state police and his family was kept hostage.
Even the CBI office at the CGO complex in Kolkata was under siege, the law officer said.
Following the SG’s submissions, the bench enquired from him as to what was the position on Monday morning to which he replied that senior CBI officials have been released. The joint director through teleconference told media channels about his house being laid under siege and the family being virtual hostage, the SG said.
The SG said there was a need for immediate order as the Kolkata Police commissioner, who has come under the lens of the CBI, is likely to destroy the electronic evidence and material related to the Saradha scam.
The Commissioner of Police, Kolkata had not responded to the CBI’s repeated summons to join the investigation and “when our team reached to his residence, they were arrested,” the SG said.
When the bench said the CBI officials are no longer under arrest, the SG replied that FIRs are being registered by the state police against the agency’s officials on a daily basis.
Mehta told the court that the agency had filed two interim applications. The first application seeks a direction from the apex court that the Kolkata Police chief should immediately surrender and should not tamper or destroy any evidence.
The second application is about the contempt of court committed by the police commissioner as there was an apex court order to carry out the investigation into the case, Mehta said.
Meanwhile, sources said Kolkata police has not submitted the call detail records of the accused persons in the Saradha scam case. The Kolkata police also did not furnish complete details of the case that was initially probed by Rajeev Kumar.
The CBI had written thrice seeking presence of Kumar, who was member of the Special Investigation Team of the Kolkata Police probing the chit fund scam, sources said.
The first notice to the Kolkata police commissioner was sent on October 18, 2017, to appear for questioning next day but he cited law and order duties of the ensuing festive season.
The next notice was issued on October 23, 2017, but again he excused from the questioning. The CBI had sent third notice on December 8, 2018 but Kumar responded saying the queries can be sent to him and he will reply.