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SC Directs CBI to Submit Detailed Allegation on Tampering Of Vital Info About Saradha Chit Fund Probe By Rajeev Kumar

THE  Supreme Court has  directed the CBI Director to furnish in two weeks full information to substantiate the allegations of destroying and tampering of evidence against the then Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar. Kumar had headed the SIT constituted by the West Bengal Government to probe the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam duping over two million gullible people. A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna passed this order in the contempt applications filed by the CBI against the DGP, Chief Secretary and former Police Commissioner of Kolkata for confining the CBI officers in police station and preventing them from discharging their duty. They had gone to Kolkata for questioning him after Kumar reportedly defied its summons. After hearing the Attorney General K.K. Venugopal and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, the bench observed that it is not satisfied by the oral submissions made by them in this regard, and directed the allegations of evidence tampering to be put on record through an affidavit filed by the Director of the CBI.The CJI wanted to know from the AG on the limited scope of whether the actions of February 3 alone are alleged to be contemptuous or some other violations had been committed. Both the AG and SG contended that some records were found to be tampered with by then Commissioner of Police and this amounted to contempt of court. The CDR containing the alleged call details made by several accused persons to “important people” were initially in the possession of the Bengal police which was allegedly tampered by Kumar before handing it over to the CBI, Venugopal alleged. CJI Gogoi, however, pointed out that the evidence of tampering, according to the Centre, took place in June 2018 and “what was the Centre doing all these days.”The AG replied that the documents in question were received by the CBI from the service providers only in November 2018. CJI Gogoi told the AG “if what you are saying is correct, don’t you think that it is serious enough for you to take the court into confidence. If it is true that is subversion of the rule of law and you are coming to the court only after the incident of that evening (on February 3).Incidentally, Rajeev Kumar and  Kunal Ghosh, former Media Advisor to the Saradha Chit Fund, were grilled  by  CBI in Shillong.Ghosh,has resigned  as Rajya Sabha Member representing  WB’s ruling party  TMC.

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