By PTI
KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court on Monday adjourned till September 13 hearing in the CBI’s prayer for transfer of the Narada sting tape case, in which two West Bengal ministers were arrested and later released on bail, on a plea by the investigating agency.
CBI lawyers prayed for adjournment of the matter submitting that the Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta was appearing in other litigations before the Supreme Court.
The five-judge bench adjourned the matter till September 13, when it will be taken up for hearing again.
Seeking transfer of the matter, CBI had earlier claimed in its affidavit before the high court that it could not physically produce four leaders arrested by it in the Narada sting tape case 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 investigating agency, which has made a transfer application before the high court for shifting of the Narada case to itself from the Special CBI court on such grounds, also mentioned the presence of state Law Minister Moloy Ghatak in the ‘Bichar Bhavan’ premises, within which the CBI court is located, quoting media reports.
CBI had arrested ministers Subrata Mukherjee, Firhad Hakim, Trinamool Congress MLA Madan Mitra, and former Kolkata mayor Sovan Chatterjee on May 17 in connection with the case.
The high court had later ordered their release 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.
