Saradha Chit Fund Case: Calcutta HC Grants One Month's Protection From Arrest To Ex-Police Chief Rajeev Kumar

Calcutta High Court's order on Thursday came as a breather for ex-police chief Rajeev Kumar as court granted him one month's protection from arrest and subjection to coercive process with some conditions to be fulfilled.

Kumar has to deposit his passport with the investigating agency within 24 hours from the passing of the order and has to intimate the investigating agency his present residential address and he shall remain in such address, unless for medical emergency he is removed to a hospital or nursing home until the disposal of the matter.

He is also supposed to co-operate in the fullest manner with the investigation and strictly in terms of Section 161(2) read with sub-section (1) of the Cr.P.C. answering the questions put to him with due protection as per provisions of Cr.P.C and Constitution against self-incrimination.

Court has, however, left it open for Central Bureau of Investigation to approach it for cancellation of the order or for modification or alteration of the conditions. Kumar has also been given liberty to apply for extension of the order on the self-same application.

Kumar had moved the Calcutta High Court Thursday, seeking quashing of the CBI notice served on him over alleged suppression of facts in the Saradha chit fund scam case.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had served a notice on Kumar asking him to appear before it for assisting the investigation into the case.

Vacation bench of Justice Protik Prakash Banerjee while hearing submissions of the counsels acknowledged the fact that CBI was not given notice and Y. Dastoor appearing for it was caught by surprise and desired that in a case of this magnitude, where records going up to top court were to be considered, a notice was to be given to the investigating agency.

Counsel for CBI, Dastoor submitted before the Court that it should look at the entirety of the circumstances and where the allegation is made against the defender of the law and order of being unable to satisfy the investigating agency as to what happened to the seized materials which were seized during the continuance of petitioner Kumar on the special investigation team as the man in day to day charge of its functioning. He submitted that at interrogation on all the occasions when the petitioner Kumar appeared before the C.B.I. ultimately the only answer he could give was that he was a mere post office.

Kumar's counsel Sudipto Moitra replied reiterating his principal submissions and also for the urgency of the interim relief stating that if no arrest or coercive action was planned or about to be taken, then there was no reason for the C.B.I. to issue a Look-Out notice.

The case is that in respect of the allegations of a Ponzi scheme misnamed as a chit fund certain complaints were made against the Saradha Group of Companies, and a Special Investigation Team was formulated initially under the aegis of the State of West Bengal after orders were passed by the Calcutta High Court. But thereafter, the duty of the investigation was shifted to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

It is the case of the C.B.I. that the special investigation team formed by the State of West Bengal of which Rajeev Kumar was a member and in-charge of the day to day functioning, made several seizures of relevant documents including documents showing payments to elected representatives of the public. It is their further case that such documents allegedly seized by the special investigation team did not find place in the records of the criminal case which is being complied by them and was not handed over to the C.B.I. by the special investigation team.

The petitioner has rebutted allegations saying that that he was merely a member of the special investigation team and was under the overall supervision of his superior officer.

The petition will appear before a regular bench on June 12 after the court reopens following a summer vacation.

Kumar, a former commissioner of Kolkata Police, was appointed ADG, CID, by the Mamata Banerjee-led government before the Lok Sabha elections.

He was, however, removed by the Election Commission during the poll process and was attached to the home ministry in New Delhi. The state government reinstated him following the withdrawal of the model code of conduct.

The Supreme Court had last week dismissed a plea of Kumar seeking extension of protection from arrest in the multi-crore chit fund scam case. A vacation bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Arun Mishra, had said that Kumar can approach the Calcutta High Court or a trial court here for seeking relief in the case.

In January, the Centre and the state government had faced an unprecedented standoff after a CBI team, which reached the residence of Kumar for questioning, had to retreat following police intervention.

Chief Minister Banerjee came out in Kumar's defence and launched a sit-in to protest in the city against the Centre's move.

On February 5, the Supreme Court had prevented the agency from any coercive action against Kumar, while directing the former police commissioner to appear and co-operate in CBI questioning at a "neutral place". He was questioned by the CBI for nearly five days in Shillong from February 9.

Kumar, who was appointed Commissioner of Police at Bidhan Nagar Police Commissionerate in 2012, had served as the head of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) which probed the ponzi scams before the CBI took over. Last month, the CBI had told the Supreme Court that Kumar's custodial interrogation was necessary as he was not cooperating in the probe and was "evasive" and "arrogant" in answering the queries put to him.

As part of the Rs 2,500-crore scam, the Saradha group of companies duped lakhs of customers, promising higher rates of returns on their investment, the agency said. Similar modus operandi was adopted by other ponzi companies like Rose Valley operating in West Bengal, Odisha and northeastern states where gullible investors were duped, it added.