What’s going on in Bengal?: SC on TMC-customs fray

NEW DELHI: “What is going on in West Bengal?” asked the Supreme Court on Monday while seeking the state’s response on a petition by customs officials accusing the state police of abusing and intimidating them on March 16 at Kolkata airport for checking the baggage of TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee’s wife. Abhishek is CM Mamata Banerjee’s nephew.
When a bench of CJI Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna decided to seek West Bengal’s response to the petition after brief arguments from solicitor general Tushar Mehta, senior advocate A M Singhvi sought to soften the impact on the TMC government by insisting that the bench specify that it was only a prima facie view of the court, otherwise the media would report it as the “truth”.

Unimpressed, the bench said, “We issue notice on thousands of petitions. Where have we ever said that we are issuing notice taking prima facie view of the petition. Somebody has drawn our attention to something very serious happening in West Bengal. You file your reply. We are not concerned who is reporting what. If required, we can take suo motu cognisance of the matter. What is happening in West Bengal?”

Though the petition by customs officials was entertained by the court on Friday, Mehta had informed the CJI-led bench on March 29 that West Bengal policemen came in large numbers to the restricted area of Kolkata’s international airport after customs officials asked Rujira Naroola Banerjee and Menka Gambhir, both Thai passport holders, to put their baggage for X-ray check when they were walking out through the green channel.

On March 29, CJI Gogoi had said, “If you (customs officials) are seeking any relief, then you must file an application. We will decide it after hearing the other side.”

The petition filed by Raj Kumar Barthwal, on behalf of the customs officials, alleged that the police contingent insisted on allowing the two women to go immediately without their baggage being checked and warned of serious consequences if the request was not complied with. The customs officials insisted on doing their duty and found certain gold items in their baggage.

The police had promptly registered an FIR on the complaint of Abhishek’s wife Naroola, but the customs department’s complaint against police officers who “abused and resorted to criminal intimidation and voluntarily obstructed customs officials from performing their duties” was not entertained, the petitioner claimed and sought action against the police officers for entering the restricted area in an unauthorised manner and unlawfully impeding customs officials from discharging their duty.

This is the second instance of central agencies moving the SC complaining against West Bengal police’s inimical behaviour against them. A few months ago, on an application filed by the CBI, the SC had initiated contempt proceedings against the West Bengal chief secretary, the state police chief and the then Kolkata police commissioner for derailing the chit fund scam probe, which the SC had shifted from the state police to the CBI.

The agency had alleged that West Bengal police manhandled its officers when they went to question then Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar. The SC later ordered Kumar to be questioned at a neutral venue in Shillong. The CBI has moved the SC again seeking Kumar’s custodial interrogation.