News Analysis India

Tag: Sovan Chatterjee

  • Narada scam: ED files prosecution complaint under PMLA against five Trinamool leaders

    By ANI

    NEW DELHI: Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a Prosecution Complaint under Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) in case of Narada sting operation case against Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders Firhad Hakim, Subrata Mukherjee, Madan Mitra, Sovan Chatterjee and IPS Officer SMH Meerza before the Special Judge (PMLA) in Kolkata.

    According to the official statement by the government agency, “Enforcement Directorate has filed a Prosecution Complaint under Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) in the case of Narada Sting Operation, against Firhad Hakim, Transport and Housing Minister, Government of West Bengal, Subrata Mukherjee, Panchayat Minister, Government of West Bengal, Madan Mitra, MLA West Bengal, Sovan Chatterjee, former Mayor of Kolkata and S.M.H.Meerza, an IPS Officer of West Bengal Cadre before the Special Judge (PMLA), Kolkata with the prayer for awarding punishment to the accused for committing offence of money laundering and confiscation of the amount of gratification.”

    ED initiated an investigation on the basis of FIR registered by Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under the provisions of corruption act, 1988 and IPC, 1868 against 12 public persons, which includes sitting MLAs and MPs of West Bengal and an IPS officer of West Bengal cadre.

    As per FIR, Mathew Samuel had conducted a sting operation during 2014 and recorded visual footage of these persons, who either themselves took money or instructed someone else to make money on their behalf from him.

    In the sting operation, it was seen that the accused, in their capacity as public servants, accepted bribes to favour an individual, who was posing as a representative of a company at the time of transaction. Money laundering investigation conducted by ED has revealed that accused persons not only received illegal gratifications but also possessed the proceeds of crime and tried to conceal it by creating fictitious stories and mislead the investigation. Therefore today, ED has filed a Prosecution Complaint, wherein it is highlighted that how the above-mentioned highly placed persons laundered the proceeds of crime/illegal gratification. The Court has taken cognizance of the matter and directed to serve the summons to all the accused. The directorate is carrying out further investigation against the other accused in this case. (ANI)

  • Four Trinamool Congress leaders appear before CBI court in Narada sting case

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Four senior leaders, facing trial in the Narada case, appeared before the special CBI judge at a court in Kolkata on Friday. Judge Anupam Mukerjee had on April 17, while ordering interim bail to the four leaders, directed them to physically appear before the court on June 4.

    State ministers Subrata Mukherjee and Firhad Hakim, TMC MLA Madan Mitra and former city mayor Sovan Chatterjee appeared before the judge and left the Bankshall court premises after a while. Judge Mukherjee said that the next date for the hearing of the matter will be fixed later in the day.

    A five-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court granted interim bail on May 28 to the four leaders, who were arrested on May 17 by the CBI, which is investigating the Narada sting tape case on an order of the high court.

    The special CBI court had granted them bail on that day itself, but the order was stayed by the high court, which remanded them to judicial custody.

    Production of the four before the special CBI court was held virtually on May 17 as the investigating agency claimed it was unable to produce the accused in court physically owing to protests outside its office at Nizam Palace by a mob of 2,000-3,000 people.

    Chargesheet in the Narada sting case was also submitted against the accused before the special court on that day. The special court, granting interim bail, had fixed the next date of hearing on June 4, when the accused were to appear before it.

    They were placed under house arrest on May 21 by a division bench of the high court, which modified its earlier stay on interim bail granted to the four leaders by the special CBI court. The matter was referred to a larger bench of five judges after the judges of a division bench presided by Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal differed on granting interim bail to the four accused.

  • Narada case: Calcutta HC refuses CBI prayer to adjourn matter

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court on Monday took up hearing in the Narada sting tapes case — in which two Bengal ministers, a TMC MLA and a former mayor of Kolkata have been arrested — refusing a prayer by the CBI to adjourn the matter.

    Representing the CBI, Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, during the virtual session, prayed before the five-judge bench that it adjourn hearing in the case, as the investigating agency has filed a special leave petition (SLP) before the Supreme Court, in connection with the high court’s May 19 and May 21 orders.

    The five-judge bench of the high court, however, decided to commence hearing in the matter since the SLP is yet to be listed for hearing before the apex court.

    It heard the CBI plea for transfer of the case from lower court to high court, and applications filed by the accused for recall of the stay order the high court had given on a lower court ruling.

    The CBI has sought before the high court transfer of the case alleging extraordinary circumstances.

    The agency claimed that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sat on a dharna at the CBI office after the arrests were made, and that it could not produce the four accused in court physically owing to unruly protests by a large number of people outside its office complex.

    The four leaders – ministers Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherjee, TMC MLA Madan Mitra and former city mayor Sovan Chatterjee — were arrested on May 17 morning by the CBI, which is investigating the Narada sting tapes case on the order of the high court.

    A special CBI court had on that very day granted interim bail to the four accused, but a division bench of the high court — comprising Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Arijit Banerjee — later stayed its decision, following which the leaders were sent to judicial custody.

    Differing on the application filed by the accused for recall of the stay order, Justice Arijit Banerjee had on May 19 passed an order allowing bail, while acting chief justice Bindal wanted that they be placed under house arrest.

    The division bench then passed an order on May 21, sending the four accused to house arrest, modifying its earlier order that stayed their bail granted by a CBI court.

    The ministers and the other two are undergoing house confinement since May 21.

    In view of the difference of opinion, the matter was then referred to a larger bench.

    A five-judge bench comprising the acting Chief Justice, justices I P Mukerji, Harish Tandon, Soumen Sen and Arijit Banerjee was subsequently constituted and the case was listed for hearing at 11 am on Monday.

    Lawyer Manishankar Chatterjee, who is representing Subrata Mukherjee, said that the issues that would be heard in the high court were noted by the five-judge bench on Monday.

    Among the main issues that were brought to the fore include the possibility of hearing the CBI’s transfer application together with the bail pleas filed by the accused, Chatterjee said.

    He further said that the five-judge bench has fixed the matter for further hearing on Wednesday.

    The sting operation, conducted by Mathew Samuel of Narada TV news channel in 2014, had purportedly caught on camera politicians accepting bribes in lieu of favours.

  • Narada case: Firhad Hakim returns home after HC orders house arrest, three others to remain in hospital due to ill health

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: West Bengal minister Firhad Hakim on Friday returned home after the Calcutta High Court ordered the house arrest of him and three others arrested by the CBI in connection with the Narada sting tape case.

    Hakim, the state’s transport minister and chairman of the board of administrators of the KMC, came back to his Chetla residence in the evening, amid tight security.

    “We urged his supporters to not celebrate his return as he and the others are yet to get bail. Please ensure the court directive that there shouldn’t be any crowding in front of the residence,” one of his daughters said.

    Apart from Hakim, the high court earlier in the day ordered the house arrest of Panchayat Minister Subrata Mukherjee, Trinamool Congress MLA Madan Mitra and former Kolkata mayor Sovan Chatterjee.

    The court passed the direction modifying its earlier order that stayed their bail granted by a special CBI court on Monday when the four leaders were arrested.

    However, Mukherjee, Mitra and Chatterjee will not be able to return home immediately as they are undergoing treatment for various health conditions.

    Mitra, who had recently recovered from COVID-19, was diagnosed with severe pulmonary problems.

    “Mr Mitra’s condition is critical. He needs to be in hospital for treatment and is not in a position to be discharged,” one of the three doctors of the medical board constituted for the treatment of the three political leaders, said.

    Chatterjee, who suffers from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder (COPD) and is highly diabetic, has developed cirrhosis of the liver, he said.

    The doctor said Mukherjee is on nebuliser.

    “We have to continue their treatment. At the moment, they are under observation,” he added.

  • Mamata attacks Centre over CBI arrests

    Express News Service
    KOLKATA:  West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday called the CBI’s arrest of three Trinamool Congress MLAs, including two ministers, an act of vendetta politics. She said the two ministers, who were arrested, were playing a key role in the state’s fight against Covid-19.  It was for the first time she was speaking in public after Monday’s arrest of three party MLAs by the central agency. 

    “Two ministers Bobby (Firhad Hakim) and Subrata Mukherjee were playing a key role (in the battle against Covid-19). Bobby works hard and is always on the field. He was among those who took the vaccine during its trial run,” the chief minister said.  “They are detained for four days. We are dealing with the Covid situation by adopting alternative measures. But no one can substitute anyone,’’ Mamata said at the state secretariat.

    Without naming the BJP, she said, “They don’t have time to look at the plight of the common people at this hour of crisis. But they have time to practice politics of vendetta.’’The CBI on Monday, arrested Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Subrata Mukherjee, Transport and Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim, Trinamool Congress MLA Madan Mitra and former Kolkata Mayor Sovan Chatterjee in connection with the Narada sting operation case. 

    On Thursday evening, Mamata, while returning to her residence from the state secretariat went to Hakim’s house and met his daughter Sabba. She reportedly told Sabba that it is a political battle which the TMC will win. Though Mamata did not name the BJP, her party functionaries have accused the saffron camp of using the central agency against the TMC leaders as a retribution for their defeat in the recently-concluded Assembly elections in the state.

    The TMC’s spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said the BJP is playing a game of dirty politics. “BJP’s national vide-president Mukul Roy and Nandigram MLA Suvendu Adhikari are also accused in the case. But they are left untouched because they are under the umbrella of the BJP,” he alleged.         

  • Narada sting case: Arrested TMC MLA, former party leader admitted to Kolkata hospital

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: West Bengal minister Subrata Mukherjee, TMC MLA Madan Mitra and former party leader Sovan Chatterjee, who were arrested by the CBI in the Narada sting case, were admitted to a hospital here on Tuesday after medical complaints, officials said.

    Another TMC minister Firhad Hakim, who was also apprehended by the central agency in the case, was shifted to a health facility in Presidency Correctional Home after he developed fever in the morning, they said.

    Mitra, who is in a post-Covid recovery stage and has several comorbidities like severe diabetes, while Chatterjee, who has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, besides diabetes, were admitted to the state-run SSKM Hospital early on Tuesday as both the politicians developed breathing problems.

    Mukherjee was initially taken to the hospital early this morning and brought back to the correctional home after completion of check-up as he did not wish to be admitted there, an official of the medical facility said.

    The 76-year-old minister was again taken to the hospital later in the day and admitted to the facility as he too developed breathing problems.

    “Chatterjee and Mitra complained of breathlessness at around 3 am, following which they were brought to the hospital. Both have been kept on oxygen support at the Woodburn Block of the SSKM Hospital. They are stable now,” the official of the state-run facility told PTI.

    Chest X-Rays were conducted on Mitra and Chatterjee while Mukherjee, who is also in the same block, is on nebuliser, he said adding that RT-PCR tests were also conducted on them to ascertain Covid-19 infection.

    Following admission of the leaders, the hospital authorities formed a medical board to supervise their health conditions.

    “The board comprises senior doctors of the medicine and chest department. They will be keeping a tab on the leaders 24X7,” he said.

    Following their admission to the hospital, a posse of Kolkata Police personnel has been deployed there.

    Family members of the three arrested political leaders went to the hospital to meet them.

    The four were apprehended on Monday morning.

    The Calcutta High Court had stayed a special CBI court’s decision to grant bail to the four who were arrested and charge-sheeted by the agency in the Narada sting tape case.

    A division bench said it deemed it appropriate to stay the special court’s order and directed that the accused persons shall be “treated to be in judicial custody till further orders”.

    The sting operation was conducted by 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.

    The tapes were made public just before the 2016 assembly elections in West Bengal.

    The Calcutta High Court had ordered a CBI probe into the sting operation in March, 2017.

  • Narada sting case: Two Bengal ministers, TMC MLA taken to CBI office in Kolkata

    By Express News Service
    KOLKATA: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday arrested three newly elected Trinamool Congress MLAs, including two ministers, and former TMC minister and mayor of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) in connection with the Narada sting operation case which was performed in 2014 and released a month before the 2016 Assembly elections in West Bengal. The central agency will submit the chargesheet in Narada sting operation case on Monday.

    Panchayat minister Subrata Mukherjee, a veteran in Bengal’s politics, urban development and transport minister Firhad Hakim, who is also an administrator of the KMC, TMC MLA from Kamarhati, North 24 Parganas, Madan Mitra and Sovan Chatterjee, former TMC minister who joined the BJP and later resigned, have been arrested on non-bailable charges.

    WB CM Mamata Banerjee arrived CBI’s Nizam Palace where two TMC ministers and one MLA arrested in Narada sting operation case. @NewIndianXpress @gsvasu_TNIE @khogensingh1
    — Pranab Mondal (@PranabM29940593) May 17, 2021

    While being taken away from his residence, Hakim said he was being arrested in connection with the Narada case and he would fight against the CBI in the court of law.

    The TMC alleged the arrests is a fallout of BJP’s debacle in the recently concluded Assembly elections. ‘’The central agency’s act clearly reflects BJP’s politics of revenge. They failed to combat politically with the TMC in the elections and are now using the central agency,’’ said TMC MP and spokesperson Saugata Roy.

    The ruling party alleged the CBI did not take the permission of the Speaker of the Assembly before arresting the three MLAs. ‘’The CBI did not communicate with me and seek my permission to arrest the MLAs. I received no letter from the central agency,’’ said Speaker Biman Banerjee.

    Sources in the CBI said there was a provision in the law that an MLA can be arrested after getting an approval from the governor.

    The CBI, however, is yet to take step against Suvendu Adhikari, BJP’s Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, and the saffron camp’s national vice president Mukul Roy. Both the defectors have been named in the FIR.

  • Denied poll ticket, BJP aspirants protest across Bengal; TMC turncoat Sovan Chatterjee quits

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The BJP on Sunday came out with the names of 63 candidates for the third and fourth phases of assembly polls in West Bengal, nominating four MPs including Union minister Babul Supriyo and several new faces, triggering protests and resignations in various parts of the state.

    In a surprise move, the party nominated Trinamool Congress turncoat and octogenarian sitting MLA of Singur, Rabindranath Bhattacharya.

    Of late, the BJP has not been nominating such elderly persons as poll candidates.

    Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi, party general secretary Arun Singh and Union ministers Supriyo and Debasree Chaudhuri released the names of 63 candidates for West Bengal assembly polls.

    For the high-stakes battle in the state, the BJP has fielded a Union minister, three sitting MPs, a noted economist and several film personalities.

    The list also has seven women candidates and eight turncoats, including former state minister and TMC leader Rajib Banerjee, who had recently quit the party to join the saffron camp.

    The list does not feature any candidate from the minority community.

    While Supriyo, the Union minister of state for environment, forest & climate change, was nominated from the Tollygunge seat in Kolkata, Lok Sabha MPs Nisith Pramanik and Locket Chatterjee have been selected for Dinhata and Chunchura constituencies respectively.

    ALSO READ | Bengal will never bow down before outsiders: TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee attacks BJP

    Pramanik and Chatterjee, a former actress, have been fielded from assembly constituencies that come under their respective Lok Sabha seats.

    However, Supriyo has been nominated for a seat far away from his Lok Sabha constituency Asansol in Paschim Bardhaman district.

    He is pitted against senior TMC leader and minister Aroop Biswas.

    Senior journalist and Rajya Sabha MP Swapan Dasgupta is the BJP’s nominee for the Tarakeshwar assembly segment.

    Outgoing MLA of Singur and octogenarian leader Rabindranath Bhattacharya, who had crossed over from the Trinamool Congress after it denied him the ticket due to age factor, has been fielded from the same seat by the BJP.

    Besides Chatterjee, the party has given a ticket to film actresses such as Tanushree Chakraborty from Shyampur in Howrah district and Payel Sarkar from Behala Purba in Kolkata.

    Actor Yash Dasgupta has also been nominated from Chanditala in Hooghly district.

    The BJP also nominated former Chief Economic Advisor to the government, Ashok Lahiri, from the Alipurduar seat in North Bengal.

    ALSO READ | West Bengal polls: Babul Supriyo, Locket Chatterjee among BJP’s new list of candidates

    He has also served as the chairman of the Kolkata-based Bandhan Bank and was a member of the Finance Commission from 2017 to 2020.

    By fielding columnist Dasgupta and the economist Lahiri, the BJP has sought to impress the sophisticated ‘Bhadralok’ community of the eastern state, political observers said, noting the Bengali intelligentsia refrained from backing the saffron party in 2019 Lok Sabha polls despite a large consolidation of Hindu votes around it.

    Hours after the candidates’ names were announced, the rift between old-timers and newcomers in West Bengal BJP came out in the open as several aspirants voiced their anguish against the party and resigned after they were denied tickets, while protests were held across the state.

    BJP leader and TMC turncoat Sovan Chattopadhyay along with his friend Baisakhi Bandyopadhyay quit the party after both of them were denied tickets.

    Chatterjee’s constituency for several decades, Behala Purba, was given to actor-turned- politician Payel Sarkar, who joined the party a few days back.

    In his resignation letter to the party’s state president Dilip Ghosh, Chattopadhyay accused the saffron camp of humiliating him.

    The nomination of Ashok Lahiri from the Alipurduar seat and Gorkha Janmukti Morcha turncoat Bishal Lama from Kalchini triggered a wave of protests in North Bengal with the local leadership hitting the streets.

    In Hooghly district’s Singur assembly constituency, BJP activists locked up party functionaries over the nomination of TMC turncoat and sitting MLA Rabindranath Bhattacharya.

    Angry BJP workers ransacked a party office in Panchla seat in Howrah district, where TMC turncoat Mohitlal Ghati was given the poll ticket.

    Rantideb Sengupta, who was fielded from Howrah Dakshin seat, declined to contest after the list was announced, citing personal reasons.

    However, the central leadership of the party intervened and persuaded him to contest from the constituency.

    Protests were also held in various other constituencies after ticket aspirants didn’t find their names in the list.

    Shyampur is one such constituency where actress Tanushree Chakraborty, a newcomer in the BJP, was nominated.

    Several district-level leaders also resigned from the party after failing to get tickets.

    The BJP’s Bengal leadership said that they would look into the matter and the issues would be resolved through discussions.

    Elections to the 294-member West Bengal Assembly will be conducted in eight phases between March 27 and April 29.

    The counting of votes will take place on May 2.

  • Trinamool MLA Debasree Roy cheated people who voted for her: Sovan Chatterjee

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: BJP leader Sovan Chatterjee on Thursday came down heavily on his former colleague in the TMC and Raidighi MLA Debasree Roy, claiming that the actor- turned-politician has made false promises and cheated the people of her constituency in South 24 Parganas district.

    Chatterjee, during a public meeting in Raidighi, said that he regrets having campaigned for the once-popular Bengali film actress in 2016.

    “Instead of serving the people who elected her, she cheated them, made false promises. If she is fielded again, I will ensure she gets defeated,” Chatterjee, once a key member of Mamata Banerjee’s cabinet, said.

    The former state minister also claimed Roy had turned up at the BJP office in Delhi in 2019 as she wanted to join the saffron camp, but after “coming to know about it, I ensured she was not inducted”.

    Responding to Chatterjee’s comments, Roy said she “did not even steal 10 paisa”, while working for the people of Raidighi.

    “I don’t have that sick mindset. I dont cheat the poor to get rich,” Roy stated.

    “I would not want to criticise any individual, but Chatterjees remarks reflect his mentality. Please don’t force me to open my mouth,” she said.

    Countering claims that she wanted to join the BJP, the MLA said, “I fell victim to a conspiracy. I was framed.”

  • Mamata has forgotten role played by BJP leaders in Nandigram movement: Sovan Chatterjee

    By PTI
    AMTALA: BJP leader Sovan Chatterjee said on Monday that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was indulging in a “dangerous game” by branding saffron camp leaders as outsiders, as it was detrimental to the interest of the nation, which is a classic example of unity in diversity.

    Chatterjee, who was once a close confidante of Banerjee, claimed that the TMC supremo has forgotten the fact that Suvendu Adhikari, who recently switched over to the BJP from the ruling camp, had played a vital role in the Nandigram movement — which was also backed by saffron party leaders L K Advani and Rajnath Singh.

    “You are indulging in a dangerous game by harping on the outsider issue over and over. In India, language, dialect, customs change every 50 kilometres. Our country is an example of unity in diversity,” the BJP leader said at a public meeting here in Diamond Harbour constituency.

    Earlier, Chatterjee and his friend Baisakhi Banerjee led a roadshow from Dhankol More in Bishnupur to Circus ground of Amtala in South 24 Parganas district.

    “The TMC boss has forgotten about the role played by L K Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Rajnath Singh in the Nandigram movement. They visited the strife-torn area in 2007 to provide support to the movement that catapulted her party to power.”

    “In 1998, the TMC had entered into a seat-sharing pact with the BJP, which is now the ruling party’s main opponent for the upcoming assembly elections. You are calling the BJP a washing machine, it is the same machine you had used back then,” he said.

    Banerjee had contended that the BJP runs the party like a washing machine, where corrupt leaders turn into saints the moment they join the organisation.

    Chatterjee also recalled that the Adhikari family, including patriarch Sisir and sons Suvendu and Dibyendu, had fought tooth and nail against the CPI(M) during the Nandigram movement in 2007.

    “Mamata Banerjee has now forgotten their contributions. People there will force her to return empty- handed after the assembly elections,” he said.

    The CM, earlier the day, said that she will contest the assembly elections from Nandigram, a seat held by Suvendu Adhikari till December.

    She currently represents Bhowanipore constituency in south Kolkata.

    “If possible, I will contest from both Bhowanipore and Nandigram. Nandigram is my elder sister and Bhowanipore my younger sister. I will give a strong candidate from Bhowanipore, in case I don’t fight from that seat,” she said.

    The BJP leader, a former minister in the Mamata Banerjee cabinet, claimed that it is the TMC supremo’s “lack of confidence” that is forcing her to fight from two constituencies.

    “Actually, Mamata Banerjee is not sure where she would be getting a solid ground under her feet and where lay quicksand,” he said.

    Claiming that Banerjee is no longer the same person he knew 10 years ago, Chatterjee said “she has lost her self- confidence and the decision to fight from two seats is an indication of that”.