[Saradha Chit Fund] "Contempt petition becomes alive during elections:" West Bengal Govt to Supreme Court

Contempt petitions involving political stakes "become alive" as elections close in, the West Bengal government told the Supreme Court on Tuesday. .The submissions came in the contempt petition filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the Saradha Chit Fund scam. Senior Counsel Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing the Chief Secretary of West Bengal, said that contempt plea is an "age old matter" which has been revived now with the West Bengal Assembly elections in sight. .To this Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta, appearing for CBI, stated that "contempt always remains alive.""It becomes alive during elections," Dr. Singhvi responded. .A Bench of Justices S Abdul Nazeer and Sanjiv Khanna eventually adjourned the case on a request by CBI. .The CBI had filed a contempt plea against West Bengal government, accusing it of “constant, deliberate and wilful non-cooperation” in its probe of the Saradha chit fund scam..The CBI had contended that Banerjee’s government was trying to escape the process of law and disturb the investigation. It also sought to link the Chief Minister to certain persons accused in the case..On December 23, 2020, the CBI filed an application saying that an investigation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) revealed that Mamata had a good relationship with former Rajya Sabha MP Kunal Kumar, one of the accused in the case, based on call records examined..The CBI has also been critical of the role of former Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar, who when posted in Bidhannagar, had supervised the SIT probe into the Saradha case. Attempt to question Kumar in February 2019 had led to a physical stand-off between Kolkata Police and CBI with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee personally sitting on a dharna to stop the CBI team from questioning Kumar. Referring to this, the CBI told the Supreme Court that the “facts clearly point towards concerted institutional connivance and a complete breakdown of rule of law and constitutional machinery in the State of West Bengal."