The top court stayed the June 9 High Court order, which refused to take reply-affidavits of Banerjee and Ghatak on the CBI’s transfer plea in the case.
The Supreme Court on Friday asked the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Law Minister Moloy Ghatak to move Calcutta High Court afresh with their plea to file affidavit in Narada scam case.
The top court stayed the June 9 High Court order, which refused to take reply-affidavits of Banerjee and Ghatak on the CBI’s transfer plea in the case.
The CBI had made the Chief Minister and the Law Minister parties in its transfer plea to the High Court.
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A bench comprising Justices Vineet Saran and Dinesh Maheshwari asked the High Court to decide their plea in connection with the filing of affidavits, with regard to their alleged role on the day of the arrest of the four TMC leaders by the CBI on May 17 in the case.
The bench pointed that High Court is scheduled to hear the matter on June 29, therefore the parties concerned should move there.
The top court also asked the High Court to first decide the applications filed by the WB government, Banerjee and Ghatak, before proceeding ahead in the matter.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the CBI, suggested the top court that it could ask the petitioners to move the High Court afresh since the hearing in the matter is in progress over there.
The CBI had accused both the leaders of stopping it from performing its legal duty following the arrest of four TMC leaders.
The top court stayed the June 9 order of the High Court, where the court had refused to take into record affidavit by Banerjee and Ghatak, after hearing their counsel senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi and senior advocate Vikas Singh representing the West Bengal government, who said the affidavits were “essential” to the case and it provides the truth on the events of May 17, the day of the arrest.
A five-judge Bench of the Calcutta High Court is hearing the Narada case.
Earlier, two SC judges Justice Indira Banerjee and Aniruddha Bose, both hailing from West Bengal, had recused from hearing the West Bengal-related matters.
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