Podcast | What’s Happening in CBI vs Kolkata Police?

(Photo: The Quint)

Are you wondering what the heck is happening in Kolkata? Then tune in to The Big Story podcast where we disentangle the face-off between Kolkata police backed by West Bengal Chief Minister, and CBI backed by the Centre.

First, a little recap of what happened on Sunday evening, 3 February, in Kolkata.

A team of CBI officials went to Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar’s residence, apparently without a warrant, to question him over his alleged role in the Saradha and Rose Valley Chit Fund scams. These officials, in turn, were detained by the Kolkata Police. And then the CBI Joint Director Pankaj Srivastav claimed that Kolkata police had gheraoed his residence – and that’s when the Centre deployed CRPF officials at the CBI offices and at the residences of the CBI staff in Kolkata.

At 9 pm on 3 February, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee began a 'Save the Constitution’ dharna to ‘save the federal structure’. She said:

“I am going to stage a dharna to save the federal structure. From today, I’m going to sit near the Metro Channel. Tomorrow, proceedings in the state Assembly will take place where I will hold a meeting. This dharna means satyagraha.”

The Centre, in turn, have called the mahagathbandhan an “opportunistic alliance”. This is what Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a press conference.

“In 2014, the Congress tweeted Rahul Gandhi’s statement that 20 lakh people lost their money in a chit fund scam in West Bengal. We took oath on 26 May 2014, so all these inquiries in Narada and Saradha scams started before us.”

Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister

But let's talk about Rajeev Kumar who is in the middle of this situation. Who is he?

Kumar had headed the Special Investigation Team probing the Saradha and Rose Valley scams that surfaced in 2013. If you remember, several members of Mamata Banerjee's party were charged or arrested. The CBI has said this that he has missed several summons but not clarified why he was summoned.

The interim CBI chief M Nageshwar Rao told ANI:

“We are investigating these chit fund cases as per the directions of the SC. An SIT has been constituted by the WB govt prior to SC’s direction under the chairmanship of Rajeev Kumar, who is currently the Kolkata police commissioner.”

But again the CBI hasn't clarified if they had gone to question him or get documents that are evidence in the case

Now there are two points to note here:

• First, the CBI has been investigating the Saradha scam after the Supreme Court transferred the case from the West Bengal and Orissa police to the CBI in the Subrata Chattoraj versus Union of India judgment on 9 May 2014. And when the court transfers investigation to the CBI then it becomes a matter of judicial review so the CBI doesn't need the state police's permission to conduct the investigation.
• Second, there's had been no update in the ongoing investigation in the last few years until yesterday that is, 3 February, when the CBI raised a concern that Kolkata police and Rajeev Kumar may be trying to destroy electronic evidence relating to the case.

But what are the procedures to follow in this case when a police commissioner is supposedly being non-cooperative?

1. The CBI could approach the chief secretary of the state of the chief minister and seek their help
2. The Centre could have suspend or dismiss Rajeev Kumar over non-cooperation
3. The CBI could approach the court ask it to instruct Rajeev Kumar to cooperate or even summon him before the CBI.

After this messy situation, the CBI did approach the supreme court but only after this incident asking them to issue a direction to Mamata Banerjee’s government instructing them to cooperate with the agency’s investigation into the Saradha chit fund scam, and not impede their progress. But Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi asked the CBI to submit proof over the next 24 hours showing that Kumar and Kolkata Police are trying to destroy evidence in the case.

The Supreme Court will hear an application and contempt petition by the CBI on 5 February. Now it boils down to this:

• The CBI cannot go without a warrant.
• The Kolkata police has the right to stop these officials who came without a warrant but not detain them as they did or allegedly threaten them.