Why witnesses are being interrogated in Delhi, not in Kolkata: HC raps ED

Kolkata: Calcutta High Court on Tuesday rebuked Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the coal scam case and questioned why witnesses were being repeatedly called to Delhi and why they were not being questioned in Calcutta.

Justice Rajshekhar Mantha, during the hearing, also expressed anger over the speed of the investigation.

The court questioned why the witnesses were being repeatedly called to Delhi and why they were not being questioned in Calcutta. "Is the ED so incompetent that they cannot interrogate a witness in Calcutta? Why isn't ED interrogating them at Nizam Palace or elsewhere?" asked the court.

Sumit Roy, one of the witnesses of coal scam, was summoned twice by the ED to Delhi. He challenged the summons and approached the Calcutta High Court.

Earlier, the Calcutta High Court had given him protection till December 20.

On Tuesday, the court extended the protection given to Roy for the next two months.

In November last year, the court had directed Roy to cooperate with the ED by appearing before it via video conference or be physically present in its office in Kolkata when summoned by the agency.

The court in its order on November 9 directed the ED to file an affidavit-in-opposition and the petitioner to file his reply to that within the six week period, after which the matter will come up for hearing again.

Roy had challenged the summons issued to him for his cooperation in the investigation in the PMLA case lodged by the ED in connection with the alleged coal scam.

The petitioner had challenged the constitutional validity of sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, dealing with summons to an individual as ultra vires of the Constitution and prayed for quashing of the summons issued to him by the ED.