Saradha Chit Fund scam: Supreme Court ends cover for Kolkata's former top cop

The Supreme Court on Friday ended protection for former Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar in the Saradha Chit Fund scam probe, but barred the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from arresting him for a week.

After the apex court transferred the Saradha scam case to the CBI from the West Bengal Special Investigation Team (SIT) in 2014, their probe revealed that the WB SIT suppressed evidence allegedly to shield members of the ruling party in the state. Kumar headed the SIT.

The CBI sought to interrogate Kumar, however, this was not possible due to an SC order passed on February 5, 2019, which protected him from "any coercive steps including arrest".

On Friday, a three-judge bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna vacated that order when convinced by CBI submissions that the order hampered their investigation.

CBI had interrogated him in Shillong earlier this year, but the agency claimed that the senior IPS officer was arrogant, non-cooperative and ambiguous in his responses, and hence custodial interrogation was a must.

The bench observed the increased acrimony and antagonism between the two police forces and said, "We express our dismay in seeing the CBI and WB police pitted and casting aspersions on each other and being embroiled in this feud. They have forgotten that the primary purpose and role of the police is to investigate crime, collect evidence and prosecute offenders."

Noting the hardened stands of both parties, the court noted the submissions while reminding the two forces that a silent majority (lakhs of Saradha chit fund investors) are awaiting justice after being deprived of their life savings.

Giving the CBI full freedom to proceed as per law, the court fixed a rider that its February 5 order will remain in operation for a week in order to allow Kumar to approach any appropriate court for protection. This is relevant as Kumar was removed as ADG, CID Kolkata and transferred to Ministry of Home Affairs in Delhi by the Election Commission on Wednesday. He is currently in Delhi and can only move back to Kolkata after the election process ends on May 23. The Court clarified that the present order will have no bearing on consideration of custodial interrogation or grant of protection.