Central agencies insulted people of the state: Speaker

KOLKATA: On the day when the City Sessions Court in Kolkata granted interim bail to state Transport minister Firhad Hakim, Trinamool Congress MLA Madan Mitra and former Kolkata Mayor Sovan Chatterjee in the Narada case registered by Enforcement Directorate (ED), Speaker Biman Banerjee was critical of the role of the Central agencies like CBI and ED for not appearing before him and alleged that in the process the investigating agencies have not only demeaned the dignity of the house and its members but insulted the people of Bengal as a whole.

"As the Speaker of this August house, I am entrusted to preserve the dignity, sanctity not only of this house but also of its members. Central agencies like CBI and ED had been given enough opportunity to explain their points not once but three times but they have avoided stating their stance and the justification of the action taken by them before the chair. They have questioned the very authority of the chair," Banerjee said at the Assembly.

He reiterated that the language of their letters in content and tenor had been replete with wild accusations and unwarranted allegations had been made. It was deliberately calculated to lower down the dignity of the members of the house.

Controversy sparked off when the Central agencies like CBI and ED chose to ignore the Speaker who summoned the SP of CBI and Assistant Director of ED to explain their stance to issue chargesheet against three members of the Assembly – Firhad Hakim, Subrata Mukherjee and Madan Mitra without his consent. Hakim, Mitra and Chatterjee were granted bail against a bond of Rs.20,000 each. The matter will again come up for hearing on 28 January 2022, when the three will have to appear physically.

The Central agency had registered this case on April 20 2017, under Section 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. On 1 September, it filed a charge sheet against Hakim, his Cabinet colleague Subrata Mukherjee, Mitra, Chatterjee and IPS officer SMH Mirza. Mukherjee died of a heart attack on November 4.