SC annuls HC order refusing to accept replies of Mamata Banerjee, law minister

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday annulled the Calcutta High Court's June 9 order refusing to take on record the affidavits of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Law Minister Moloy Ghatak on their role on the day of arrest of four Trinamool Congress leaders on May 17 by CBI in Narada scam case.

A vacation bench of justices Vineet Saran and Dinesh Maheshwari asked the high court to decide de-novo the fresh pleas, to be filed by Banerjee, Ghatak and the state government by June 28, before proceeding with the main petition of the CBI seeking transfer of the scam case to the high court itself.

The top court said the three parties ought to have filed an application for taking their respective counter-affidavits on record, especially when the submissions/arguments of the parties were going on and had progressed substantially.

The bench said the matter could be remanded to the high court to decide it afresh on the basis of the reasons to be given in the applications which may be filed by the parties within a specified time.

The counsel for the parties has graciously agreed to this suggestion of the Court. Accordingly, we dispose of these three petitions with...directions, it said.

In view of the fact that June 29, 2021, is the date fixed before the High Court, we direct that the petitioners may file their respective applications giving reasons to bring the counter-affidavits filed by them on June 7 and June 9 respectively on record, by Monday that is June 28, after serving advance copies on the counsel for the Central Bureau Of Investigation and other necessary parties, on or before June 27, the bench said in the order.

CBI and others may file their replies to the application by June 29, after serving an advance copy to the counsel of Banerjee, Ghatak and the state government a day before, it said.

We request the High Court to first decide the aforesaid applications of the petitioners herein, for taking the counter affidavit/affidavits in response on record, before proceeding to decide the merits of the case, it said.

We may further add that to avoid any prejudice to be caused to any of the parties, the order dated June 9 shall stand annulled and the High Court shall decide the matter de-novo, it added.

The top court made clear that the five-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court headed by Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal shall decide the further course of action and proceed with the matter after deciding the pleas of the three parties.