Courting trouble

A CBI application in the Supreme Court could derail Mamata Banerjee’s quest to retain power

- RABI BANERJEE

ON DECEMBER 23, the Central Bureau of Investigation submitted a 271-page application in the Supreme Court, claiming that the constitutional machinery in West Bengal had collapsed and alleging that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was involved in the 2013 Saradha scam. The Supreme Court had asked the CBI to investigate the case; initially, a special investigation team headed by Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar had probed it.

The application also sought custodial interrogation of Kumar. The CBI accused him of not investigating the Saradha scam case and of even returning crucial documents and laptops to the prime accused.

Banerjee could have a troubling January as the apex court is also set to hear a handful of other cases related to the state administration. This includes a case the BJP filed regarding “rampant violence” during the 2019 elections.

The application, a copy of which THE WEEK has, details the alleged mistreatment CBI officials faced while investigating the multi-crore Saradha scam. In February 2019, the state police had stopped CBI officials from interrogating Kumar. “[This] clearly points [to] the concerted institutional connivance [in the state] and a complete breakdown of the rule of law and constitutional machinery,” read the application.

In an interview with THE WEEK (issue dated January 3, 2021), West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar had also claimed such a “breakdown of the constitutional machinery”. He said he had flagged it in a report to the Centre.