The West Bengal government has in a rejoinder filed before the Calcutta High Court to a CBI affidavit in the Narada sting tapes case claimed that the state's role is impartial and it has not "surreptitiously" supported the accused. The CBI has filed an affidavit on not being able to physically produce four politicians, including two ministers, arrested by it in the Narada sting tapes case before the designated court. In the 14-page rejoinder, the West Bengal government claimed that it is not an adverse party, "as its role is impartial and independent and limited to providing an objective overview of the events of May 17" when the accused – state ministers Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherjee, Trinamool Congress MLA Madan Mitra and former Kolkata mayor Sovan Chatterjee – were arrested.
The rejoinder filed before the five-judge bench hearing a CBI application for transfer of the case to itself claimed the state government was involved in various ways including providing security outside the Nizam Palace complex that houses the CBI office, and at the court premises, taking suo moto cognizance of law and order violation and "providing CBI with necessary assistance" and denied having "surreptitiously" supported the accused. The CBI had claimed in its affidavit before the bench that it could not physically produce the four leaders before the designated court on May 17 owing to the presence of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in its office and that of a large "unruly" crowd outside.
The agency, which has made the transfer application before the high court for shifting of the Narada case to itself on such grounds, also pointed to the presence of state Law Minister Moloy Ghatak in the Bichar Bhavan premises, within which the CBI court is located, quoting media reports. It also claimed in its counter-affidavit in reply to the affidavits in opposition filed by the West Bengal government, Banerjee and Ghatak that the four leaders had to be produced before the designated CBI court through virtual mode owing to the prevailing situation in and outside the CBI office, where the four accused were kept following their arrest.
The CBI claimed that "huge numbers of unruly mob gathered at the main gate of Nizam Palace, gheraoed the premises and started pelting stones." Denying that the mob gheraoed the premises of the CBI office, the rejoinder by the state government said, "The CBI office is situated within the Nizam Palace Complex and the crowds which had gathered were outside one of the gates/entrances to the entire complex, and not in/near the CBI office located on the 13-15th floor of the MSO Building of the Nizam Palace Complex." The state government claimed that the Kolkata Police were present throughout the day to assist the CBI, including by ensuring that Nizam Palace complex was accessible at all times and even providing green corridor to the CBI for travel to the special CBI court in the evening of May 17. "No request was received from the CBI for assistance with producing the accused before the special court in person," it claimed in the rejoinder filed before the bench presided over by Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal on Monday. It further claimed that the CBI has not produced any documentary evidence, photographs or video recording of any large crowd or gathering at the Bichar Bhawan Court Complex which houses the special court.
It said that a report by the court inspector "notes certain persons including certain ministers had visited the court complex unaccompanied and that they did not visit any of the court chambers." The state government denied the CBI's averment that assistance of the Kolkata Police personnel was available only after the chief minister left Nizam Palace, when the CBI team visited the trial court under escort from CRPF and local police. The CBI had claimed in its affidavit that sometime after the four leaders were brought to its office at Nizam Palace complex following their arrest, the chief minister had arrived there and demanded unconditional release of the arrested accused persons from the CBI office.
It had claimed the chief minister remained present at the CBI office for nearly six hours. The state government further claimed that proper sanctioning authority for arrest of the accused persons was the Assembly Speaker and the council of ministers as per the Constitution and law laid down by the Supreme Court.
Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar had granted sanction to CBI to prosecute the four leaders, who were ministers during the time of alleged commission of a crime claimed in the purported Narada tapes. The four accused are now out on bail. The Narada sting operation was conducted by journalist Mathew Samuel of Narada News, a web portal, in 2014 wherein some people resembling TMC ministers, MPs, and MLAs, were seen receiving money from representatives of a fictitious company in lieu of favours.
At that time, the four arrested politicians who were subsequently released on bail were ministers in the Mamata Banerjee government. The sting operation was made public ahead of the 2016 assembly elections in West Bengal.
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