Narada case: TMC MP moves High Court for quashing CBI FIR

Trinamool Congress MP Aparupa Poddar on Tuesday moved the Calcutta High Court seeking quashing of a CBI FIR against her in the Narada sting case.

Poddar's counsel claimed before Justice Joymalyo Bagchi that the investigating agency had not asked the MP about her version with regard to the alleged sting wherein a person "resembling her" is shown to be allegedly receiving money for favours.

Poddar's counsel Siddharth Luthra claimed the CBI had considered the video clips as gospel truth and did not ask her about her version during the one month of initial inquiry before registering the FIR.

The court adjourned the hearing till Friday.

In the sting operation, which was claimed to have been done in 2014, persons resembling senior TMC leaders are seen purportedly accepting money from representatives of a fictitious company in return for favours.

The high court had ordered the CBI to conduct a preliminary enquiry in the matter. The order was challenged by the Bengal government in the Supreme Court, which refused to grant relief on March 17 and gave the CBI one month to conclude the preliminary probe and file an FIR, if required.

The CBI has booked 12 top TMC leaders, including MPs and ministers, and an IPS officer in this connection.

The FIR has been registered under Section 120(b) of IPC related to criminal conspiracy and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act dealing with bribery and criminal misconduct. The maximum sentence for these crimes ranges from five to seven years imprisonment.

The TMC leaders against whom the CBI has registered the FIR include Rajya Sabha MP Mukul Roy and Lok Sabha MPs Saugata Roy, Aparupa Poddar, Sultan Ahmed, Prasun Banerjee and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar. Ministers including Firhad Hakim, Suvendu Adhikari, Sovan Chatterjee, and Subrata Mukherjee have also been named in the FIR.