HC Grants Anticipatory Bail To Ex-Kolkata Top Cop Rajeev Kumar

Kumar is, however, not allowed to leave Kolkata.

Former Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar, presently posted as ADG (CID) in the West Bengal Police.

(File Photo: IANS)

Former Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar arrived at Alipore Court on Thursday, 3 October.

In a relief to the senior IPS officer, the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday had granted anticipatory bail to him in connection with the multi-crore-rupee Saradha chit fund scam, saying it was not an appropriate case for custodial interrogation, PTI reported.

A bench comprising justices S Munshi and S Dasgupta said if Kumar was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the case, he would have to be released immediately on bail by an appropriate court on two sureties of Rs 50,000 each.

Kumar is presently serving as ADG (CID) in the West Bengal Police.

The Court observed that the charges against Kumar did not make him “fit for custodial investigation”.

The Case So Far

This comes after the CBI issued multiple notices to the IPS officer to appear before them for questioning in the Saradha case. The officer, however, did not appear before the agency and sought more time citing the fact that he was on leave.

The Court also said that if arrested by the CBI, then Kumar will be given bail immediately in lieu of a security bond of fifty thousand rupees, adding that Kumar does not have the Court’s permission to leave the city.

The CBI is expected to approach the Supreme Court against the Calcutta High Court’s decision.

Kumar’s counsels had appealed for anticipatory bail in the HC on 24 September as his leave was ending on 26 September. The counsels also claimed that the CBI was ‘hounding him’.

Earlier the CBI had made a plea for issuing a non-bailable arrest warrant against Kumar in a Kolkata lower court, which disposed off the plea saying that Kumar could be arrested by the CBI in accordance with the law if the need arose.

This came after Kumar’s interim protection from arrest was withdrawn by the courts on 13 September, after it was extended multiple times since 30 May.

Kumar headed the special investigation team (SIT) in 2013 that probed the multi-crore Saradha and Rose Valley ponzi scams, and is accused of suppressing and tampering with evidence. The case was handed over to the CBI in 2014.

(With inputs from ANI and PTI.)