The situation in Kolkata de-escalated on Tuesday after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee ended her three-day showdown with the Centre over the CBI's 'treatment' of Kolkata police chief and called off the 'Save Constitution' sit-in. She, however, avowed that she would pick up the issue again in New Delhi next week.
Meanwhile, following the proceedings in the Supreme Court where CBI's 15-month wait to question Kolkata top cop Rajeev Kumar in the Saradha chit fund scam ended with a direction to Kumar to cooperate with the agency and be available for interrogation at a neutral place in Shillong, albeit with a caveat that there be no coercive steps against him till February 20, both sides staked claim to a moral victory.
In the evening, with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu by her side along with most of her cabinet ministers, Banerjee said, "We had begun this dharna by ourselves, but since we got the support of 23 political parties, we could not end it without discussing it with them. Everyone agreed that the SC's verdict was a moral victory. So we have decided to call off the dharna for the time being because the court has given a positive judgment, but we will continue it in Delhi next week."
However, Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad also welcomed the order and said it's a blow to Banerjee's government and a victory for the CBI.
"It also showed that nobody is above the law, including the police commissioner," he added.
Earlier in the day, the action was in the top court when Attorney General KK Venugopal and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta together represented CBI and informed a bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi that Kumar's interrogation is a must as there is prima facie evidence to show that he actively connived, shielded the accused by either suppressing evidence or destroying it with his selective acts of omission and commission, punishable under the Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Corruption Act.
Going through the evidence presented by CBI in its additional affidavit, the bench had no doubt in its mind and ordered that Kumar needed to "make himself available" and faithfully cooperate with the future probe in the chit fund scam probe. More than this order though, the AG insisted the Court issue contempt notice to Kumar along with the State Chief Secretary and Director General of Police (DGP) for the manner in which the local administration and police joined hands to restrain, harass, and detain officers of CBI from carrying out the chit fund scam probe as directed by the Supreme Court.
The bench, however, said, "As regards the appearance of Commissioner of Police, there should be no difficulty. But contempt cannot be decided now. Notices have to be issued and the other side has to be heard."
SC Directions
- Kumar must ‘make himself available’ and cooperate with the future probe
- Interrogation at a neutral place in Shillongg
- CBI cannot arrest or take any coercive steps against Kumar till February 20
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