"Satisfy Us That This Man Has A Role To Play": CJI To SG [Courtroom Exchange In WB Chit fund Case]

"He (erstwhile Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar) is saying I have fully cooperated. My interrogation is video graphed. Take a look and tell me how I have not cooperated. You are to make out a case that this order of the court giving him protection (from arrest) has been abused. If he has abused it, we will order custodial interrogation", said Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi to Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on Tuesday.

Appearing for the CBI, the SG advanced, "Your Lordships had ordered for the local police to cooperate with the CBI. I have narrated three incidents which show deliberate and wilful non-compliane"

"Three accused in the Saradha Chit Fund scam were arrested in Jammu & Kashmir and a laptop and mobile phones were recovered from them. However, these devices were not deemed necessary to be sent to the FSL (Forensic Science Laboratory) and were instead returned! They would have shown the involvement of some political leaders and other important personalities but the police conceded before the court that they be returned. Now there was no data as to who called who. So Material evidence was destroyed...The local police went to the (mobile) service providers for the Call Detail Records (CDRs). Then the investigation came to be transferred to the CBI. The minimum cooperation is to hand over the entire evidence, but the original mobiles and laptop were returned to the accused and look at what we have received of the data procured from the service providers...As per a notification of the government of West Bengal (Respondent 3 Kumar) was incharge of the day-to-day functioning of the state's SIT, but in our investigation, no answers were given to us...", he continued.

"The release of the mobiles must be under court orders?", asked the Chief Justice.

"I can have no complaints if there is a judicial order of the court. But the Concession of the police was recorded! You track the accused and get their mobiles and laptops, the minimum you do is send them to the FSL! You are party to the destruction of material evidence!", replied the SG.

"They were not telling even before Your Lordships what they had received from Airtel and Vodafone. So we moved an application for these service providers to give us all this. While we received everything on our own, the police handed over only a part of it!", he argued.

"The CDRs of three numbers were provided by the service providers for the period from February, 2012 to February, 2013. But the Bidhannagar police station (Kumar was the Bidhannagar Police Commissioner then) forwarded us CDR for only a limited period, that too in June, 2018 (four years after the CBI was entrusted investigation) after repeated requests...they get data for one full year from the mobile companies and we get 2 months 15 days' (worth CDR) for two numbers and for the third, of 2 months 90 days...and (Kumar) is not answering to us in the investigation. He is saying I was at the top, my staff may or may not have given. Unless there is custodial interrogation, we can't find out"

"Further, the Bidhannagar police station did not share the CDRs for 6 additional numbers. Vodafone now says that that data was given by them to West Bengal. Besides, Vodafone shows that the records were sought for a period shorter than one year for these 6 numbers. Why were the CDRs for only 6 months demanded? Why did they not Ask for atleast one year and ignore the irrelevant portions?"

Continuing, the SG submitted that the Prime accused in the scam, a lady, in a written statement given to the ED has stated that the cash transactions were maintained in certain cashbooks and diaries and that the police had seized the same- "But the seizure memo does not disclose that these documents were taken on record by the Bidhannagar police station! It is not known whether they were not seized or whether seized and not given to the CBI...Black money was being passed between the high and mighty! So why were these documents not seized? And if they were seized, why were they not shared?!"

"When you asked him (Kumar), what did he say?", questioned the Chief Justice

"He says he is not aware of anything and that it is the job of the IO (Investigating Officer)", responded Mr. Mehta.

When Chief Justice Gogoi wanted to know if the IO was asked, the SG said, "No fruitful information was received. One of the IO informed us that they got instructions from so and so who in turn got orders from Rajeev Kumar. We didn't go to him directly, we first went to the Joint Commissioner..."

Then the bench asked if the CBI has interrogated Arnab Ghosh, another SIT official and the DC DD of the Bidhannagar Commissionerate.

"He was caught but he approached the High Court and got an injunction to not harass him...Ghosh did not appear even once...now all police officers issued notice under 160 (Cr. P. C.) have approached the High Court", said Mr. Mehta.

"The normal human conduct should for one police agency to cooperate with another police agency. The question to be asked is that what was at the residence of the Police Commissioner that needed him to take the unprecedented step of attacking another police agency? I will show his averments and the photos taken by an independent agency!", he continued.

"Why did you go to his house?", the Chief Justice wanted to know. "Search. Interrogation...why did the local police ambush the CBI?! We were pushed in to West Bengal vehicles! What was being hidden? What prompted the dharna where the police joined the CM? And then they said before Your Lordships that they had not sat on dharna but that place had became the impromptu Secretariat?!", pressed the SG.

"Why did you not obtain a search warrant?", probed the CJ. "We could have done that...but we are not on that...we went only for questioning", said the SG.

"How did he not cooperate with you so that your request for custodial interrogation is justified? If it is, We will allow you to arrest him...", reiterated the CJ.

"The status report filed by me shows that my pertinent questions were given evasive answers, or no answers or arrogant answers. He said these were matters of record, that he was a supernumerary officer not needed to know such details. He failed to disclose how the devices were returned to (Saradha group chief) Sudipto Sen and other accused, he shifted the blame on his subordinates or his superiors, he gave a clean chit to all influential people that they never evaded investigation. He said oral orders were given to subordinates and that his reporting to his superiors was also oral, which is unbelievable!...Now other officers are also getting the same relief against arrest from the High Court which was granted to him under Your Lordships' order..."

Pointing out another bizarre fact, the SG indicated that "After the scam broke out, 6.21 crores was paid to Tara TV Employees' Welfare Association (owned by Sen) from the Chief Minister Relief Fund!"

"He (Kumar) is not an IO, he is at at best a member of the SIT. His was a supervisory role. You need to give us material to show he is involved. Saying this on affidavit is not enough. Show us he was party to this, that the decisions were taken with his knowledge and his consent. Where is the affidavit saying (someone) acted on his instructions?", reflected the Chief Justice.

"Everybody said they got instructions from the top. The top is Arnab Ghosh and Ghosh said he got orders from Kumar...", the SG said.

"Satisfy us that this man has a role to play, even if remotely, in the disappearance and suppression of evidence", repeated CJ Gogoi.

"If the investigation agency reaches a reasonable conclusion that this person can be involved, can I not seek custodial interrogation?", asked the SG.

"That is an open question. We need to be satisfied that the request is bonafide and not for some collateral purpose", the CJ insisted.

"This is enough, but I will buttress my case with more evidence which will come today evening. I will produce it tomorrow", assured the SG.