KOLKATA: Calcutta High Court granted former Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar anticipatory bail on Tuesday after hearing his plea for three days.
The judge mentioned in his observation that Kumar’s custodial interrogation by the CBI is not required in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam case.
The division bench comprising justice S, Munshi and S. Dasgupta also directed the central agency to summon Kumar 48 hours before interrogating him.
"Kumar was granted bail on condition of furnishing a bail bond of Rs 50,000," said Kumar’s counsel Debasish Roy.
The judge said in his observation that Kumar co-operated with the investigating agency and his custodial interrogation is not required.’’
CBI’s lawyer, during the course of hearing, accused Kumar of not co-operating with the investigating agency in his submission.
He told the court that Kumar was served eight notices asking him to appear before the CBI to face interrogation, but he turned up only twice at its Salt Lake office.
The CBI launched a hunt to track down Kumar after Calcutta High Court vacated its interim order granting him protection from arrest on September 13. Kumar plea for anticipatory bail was rejected by a lower court in Alipore and he moved the high court.
The CBI accused Kumar of tampering evidence related to the 2,500 crore chit fund scam case. The agency said in the court that Kumar was interrogated for a week in Shillong following an order by the Apex court but he did not co-operate with the sleuths probing into the case.
In February, a team of 20 CBI sleuths went to Kumar’s residence but they were resisted and whisked away by Kolkata police personnel.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee rushed to Kumar’s residence before staging a sit-in demonstration at Esplanade describing the CBI’s act motivated politically.
She withdrew the dharna after Supreme Court granted Kumar protection from arrest and any coersive action and directed the CBI to interrogate him in Shillong. Kumar was interrogated for a week at the capital of Meghalaya.
In May, the Apex court vacated its order granting Kumar protection from arrest and directed him to move a court in West Bengal.
On May 30, Kolkata High Court had granted protection to Kumar from arrest over summons issued to him and directed Kumar to co-operate with the investigating agency. The protection was extended from time to time.