Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya lodged complaint
on May 17 The Kolkata Police Wednesday converted a complaint filed by ruling Trinamool Congress leader and state minister Chandrima Bhattacharya into an FIR against the CBI. On Monday, May 17, Bhattacharya lodged a complaint with the city police against the central probe agency over the arrest of party heavyweights Firhad Hakim, Subrata Mukherjee and Madan Mitra in connection with the Narada sting operation case.
In her letter of complaint to the Kolkata Police commissioner which has now been turned into an FIR, Bhattacharya said, “In the circumstances, I on behalf of my party would request you to immediately take necessary action under the law and do the needful against the CBI officers who had arrested the leaders at the behest of Prime Minister, Union Home Minister and the Governor of the State.”
The FIR has been registered under sections 34, 66, 166A and 188 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), pertaining to public servant disobeying law, disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant and acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention, as well as Section 51(b) of the Disaster Management Act.
The minister had also requested the city police top boss to treat her complaint as an FIR.
“When the whole state is fighting against the severe pandemic situation under the leadership of our Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, when to save lives of the people of the state all steps are being taken from the end of the State Government, it is surprising that the CBI has today (Monday) morning arrested three leaders of our party, namely, Subrata Mukherjee, Janab Firhad Hakim and Madan Mitra, the first two being Ministers and the third being an MLA,” her letter further read.
Claiming that no warrant was produced before the leaders were arrested, the senior Trinamool leader also accused the CBI of departing from its independent character and acting at the behest of the Centre and West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar. “(The) CBI is an independent authority and is expected to act independently. However, giving a complete go-bye to its independent character, it is acting at the behest of the Central Government and the Governor of West Bengal Jagdeep Dhankhar,” she wrote.
Coming down heavily on the Governor, Bhattacharya accused him of acting as a mouthpiece of the BJP, saying he was serving “whims of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah”.
“We are at a loss to understand how the Governor of a state can direct CBI to arrest someone when the law does not permit him to do so. Shamelessly, the Governor of the state is acting as a mouthpiece of (the) BJP and is functioning at the whims of PM Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. He is biased and politically motivated. He has no constitutional power to direct (the) CBI to arrest anyone. An elected state Government has also not been consulted before such action,” her letter further read.
Bhattacharya added that the Governor’s bias is “writ large from the fact that no step has been taken against MLA Mukul Roy and Suvendu Adhikari”, BJP leaders against whom the CBI brought serious charges in connection with the case.
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