HC may give Narada probe to CBI

KOLKATA: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) told Calcutta high court on Friday that it has no problem taking up the Narada probe if the HC directs so.
In a sting operation conducted by Narada News CEO Mathew Samuel which was shown on TV channels before the assembly elections in West Bengal last year, several Trinamool ministers and leaders and an IPS officer were seen in the video accepting cash.
CBI counsel Asraf Ali made this submission following a query from the bench of acting Chief Justice Nishita Mhatre and Justice Tapabarata Chakrabarty. “We operate under the provisions of the IPC and the CrPC. We have the statutory right of taking up any probe if the court orders us,” Ali said. The bench heard out all the parties but reserved its order.
The HC had sought the CBI opinion after Samuel’s counsel Arunava Ghosh submitted that his client had conducted the sting on senior Trinamool leaders and an IPS officer after it was commissioned by Tehelka.com. The sting operation was complete in 2014. But the tapes were shelved because the company management underwent a shuffle.
TMC Rajya Sabha MP and owner of Alchemist group of companies, K D Singh, took the ownership of Tehelka.com and the sting operation was not made public. The tapes were aired two years later in 2016 after Samuel took charge of the Narada News.
The acting Chief Justice then asked Samuel’s counsel if Tehelka had handed over the Narada tapes to Narada News even if the project was commissioned by Tehelka. Ghosh said: “Yes. Narada News was later formed with Samuel as CEO and the sting videos were released in March 2016.”
Ali’s submission on Friday comes days after senior lawyer Kalyan Banerjee, who is representing the accused ministers, argued that the preliminary probe has to be left with the officer in charge of Shyampukur police station where the complaint was lodged. Opposing the CBI probe, Banerjee had cited the Constitution and provisions of the CrPC in support of his argument.
Banerjee had argued that the court had no right to allow the preliminary probe to be held by some other agency other than the police officer in charge. He had argued that handing over probe to CBI will only add to the delay.