CJI pulls up CBI over delay in Rajeev Kumar case

Kolkata: “Why should we keep this matter pending? You have done nothing during all these years,” Chief Justice of India B R Gavai reportedly told the Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday as the Supreme Court took up the agency’s plea against anticipatory bail granted to senior IPS officer Rajeev Kumar in the Saradha chit fund scam case.

A bench of Chief Justice Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran later posted the CBI’s plea for hearing on October 17, along with other pending petitions related to the multi-crore scam.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the CBI, urged that the case be listed together with a contempt plea for a “broader understanding” of the entire matter. He also referred to an earlier incident when a senior CBI officer’s residence in Kolkata was allegedly surrounded by miscreants during the probe.

Kumar’s counsel pointed out that the officer, who was granted anticipatory bail by the Calcutta High Court on October 1, 2019, has not been called for questioning even once in six years.

The Saradha chit fund scam, exposed in 2013, allegedly defrauded thousands of investors of about Rs 2,500 crore. Kumar, then Bidhannagar police commissioner, had been part of the state SIT that initially investigated the case before the Supreme Court transferred it to the CBI in 2014.