The CBI had earlier in April moved the Supreme Court seeking permission to arrest and custodial interrogation of Rajeev Kumar.
Former Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar (File Photo: IANS)
The Supreme Court on Friday vacated the interim protection extended to former Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar from arrest by the CBI over his alleged role in destroying evidence in Saradha chit fund case.
The court has given him seven days to get anticipatory bail from an appropriate court.
The top court said its February 5 order granting interim protection to Rajeev Kumar will continue for seven days from Friday so that he approach the competent court for legal remedy.
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The CBI had earlier in April moved the Supreme Court seeking permission to arrest and custodial interrogation of Kumar. The probe agency also wanted the top court to withdraw its February 5 order granting protection to Rajeev Kumar from arrest.
In reply, the apex court had asked the CBI to produce proof and convince the court on its plea for custodial interrogation of the former Kolkata Police chief.
The court said the CBI has to prove before the court that Kumar had a role to play in either suppression or disappearance of evidence in the case.
The court also sought direct evidence from the CBI on Kumar’s involvement, especially the data on laptop, mobile phones, or diaries which allegedly contained information on payments made to influential people in ensuring destruction of evidence.
The agency has claimed that the Kolkata police chief had destroyed the evidence in the chit fund scam when he headed the SIT. It further said the copies of call records handed over by SIT to CBI were doctored.
An intense drama was witnessed on February 3, when a team of 40-odd CBI officers reached Kumar’s residence, and a team of Kolkata Police officers rushed there to inquire if they had the documents required to question the CP.
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