Jharkhand lawyer Rajiv Kumar, popularly known as the 'PIL Man', was arrested by the Kolkata Police from a mall in Kolkata on Sunday, 31 July, for allegedly blackmailing a businessman from West Bengal.
However, considering Rajiv Kumar’s history of fighting cases regarding powerful people in politics, there may be more to his arrest than meets the eye.
Why Was Rajiv Kumar Arrested?
According to Kolkata Police Joint Commissioner (Crime) Murli Dhar Sharma, advocate Rajiv Kumar had filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Ranchi High Court against Sonu Agarwal, a Kolkata-based businessman, and allegedly demanded Rs 10 crore to withdraw the petition.
After negotiation, the amount was reduced to Rs 4 crore and finally the deal was settled at Rs 1 crore. The first installment of Rs 50 lakh was paid on Sunday.
Later the same day, Kumar was arrested with the same amount.
It is alleged that Rajiv Kumar told the businessman that he had links with central agencies and threatened to his house and office.
Jharkhand police had tipped off the Kolkata police about the deal which led to the advocate’s arrest.
A Bengal police official told news agency IANS, “We laid a trap and Rajiv Kumar was caught red-handed. It seems that the advocate files PILs against rich businessmen to blackmail them and extort huge sums of money from them. We are currently interrogating him.”
Who Is Rajiv Kumar?
Rajiv Kumar, who has represented over 100 PILs, is popularly known as the ‘PIL Man’ in Jharkhand. A few days before his arrest, he had filed three PILs on behalf of a petitioner Shiv Shankar Sharma.
Two of the PILs are against Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, of which one is regarding the allocation of mining lease by the CM. The third one is against Soren’s close aides accused of money laundering and alleged investments in shell companies, which are currently being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
In this case, Soren's MLA representative Pankaj Mishra was arrested on Sunday and the CM’s press advisor Abhishek Prasad was also questioned by the ED.
In a PIL, related to alleged mining irregularities, filed in February this year, Rajiv Kumar had filed an additional petition seeking protection, claiming that he had received death threats.
However, advocate Rajeev Ranjan rebuked the allegations, calling the petition an effort to "defame" the Chief Minister.
Rajeev Kumar vs Pooja Singhal Case
In 2017, Rajiv Kumar had filed a special leave petition (SLP) regarding irregularities in a land acquisition case, which was last heard in July, 2019.
In the case, it was alleged that several discrepancies were found after about 165 acres of land was allotted to Kathautia Coal Mines. Several officials, including Jharkhand IAS Pooja Singhal, were under suspicion regarding the case.
Later, Rajiv Kumar had sent a letter to the Governor regarding the irregularities and the investigation was entrusted to the Revenue Secretary and Personnel Secretary.
The allegations were confirmed during the probe the report was also submitted to the State government. The investigation found many officials, including the-then DC of Palamu, Pooja Singhal to be guilty, however, the Jharkhand government gave them a clean chit in the case.
Rajiv later took the case to the Jharkhand High Court where the petition was dismissed by the court.
He filed a SLP in Supreme Court after which the top court commenced hearing in the case. Pooja Singhal was arrested and the strings connect her to CM Hemant Soren.
Advocate Rajiv Kumar is associated with many such cases which have proved to be a nuisance for the Soren government.
Meanwhile, central agencies are tightening the noose on CM Soren and his close aides. However, Congress and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) have alleged that the BJP is trying to topple the Soren government.
The Congress has also made serious allegations against the BJP regarding the recent arrest of three Congress MLAs found with cash.
Lawyers Protest Against Arrest in Jharkhand
Lawyers at the Jharkhand High Court did not work on Monday, 1 August, to protest against the arrest of Rajiv Kumar.
The lawyers attended an emergency meeting of the Advocate Association of Jharkhand High Court and decided not to work.
Meanwhile, Rajiv's family also reached the High Court. His father has filed a petition in the court demanding Rajiv to be brought to Jharkhand.
(With inputs from Smita Chand and Anand Dutt.)
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