New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday vacated the interim protection granted to former Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar from arrest by the CBI in the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam case. The investigating agency has accused Kumar of tampering with the evidence in the chit fund scam to shield powerful politicians.
The court has expressed concern over the manner in which the chit fund scam case has panned out, while vacating its February 5 order granting interim protection from arrest to Kumar. A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Deepak Gupta and Justice Sanjiv Khanna said:
“We would withdraw the protection given to Mr. Rajeev Kumar, former Commissioner of Police, Kolkata, vide our order dated February 05, 2019 restraining the CBI from arresting him and thereby, leave it open to the CBI to act in accordance with the law.”
The court, however, granted seven days to Kumar to take appropriate legal remedies. At the same time, we direct that the interim order dated February 05, 2019 would continue for a period of seven days from the date of pronouncement of this order to enable Kumar to approach competent court for relief, if so advised,” said the court.
The court observed that in the contempt proceedings it cannot determine whether or not Kumar should be arrested by the CBI for custodial interrogation. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has accused Kumar of destruction of evidence in the scam, but the court noted that there is no FIR registered against Kumar.
“Under Sections 201/202 of the Indian Penal Code, but for which no First Information Report (FIR) has been registered, which contention is disputed by the CBI on the ground that the present investigation is connected with the FIRs registered in the chit-fund scam cases pending investigation,” said the court. The court noted that it attempted to resolve the controversy by ensuring interrogation of Kumar by the CBI, in view of the allegations levelled by the investigation agency, yet barred the CBI from arresting him.
