Narada case: ED files writ petition in Calcutta HC against West Bengal Speaker summons

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], October 4 (ANI): Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday filed a writ petition in Calcutta High Court against summons issued by West Bengal Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee in connection with the Narada sting operation case.
“The petitioner is aggrieved by the arbitrary, unlawful and without the authority of law summons issued by the respondents herein, thereby interfering in the independent and impartial working of the investigative officers of the Enforcement Directorate,” reads the plea filed by the investigation agency.
ED said it is “aggrieved” by the letter/order issued from the Banerjee, “who are strangers to the process of criminal law”
“The said summons have far-reaching consequences on the rule of law in the country and the independent functioning of the investigative agencies and their officers in the country,” ED added.
Earlier on Monday, a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team probing the Narada case appeared before West Bengal Assembly Speaker after the order passed by Calcutta High Court.
The speaker had summoned both ED and CBI as the actions were taken against elected representatives without informing him.
The Enforcement Directorate had named two sitting West Bengal ministers – Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherjee – in its chargesheet in the Narada sting operation case.
The ED had also named TMC MLA Madan Mitra and former mayor of Kolkata Sovan Chatterjee in its chargesheet in the matter.
The four were arrested on May 17 by the CBI which is investigating the Narada sting tape case on a 2017 order of the High Court.
On May 17 itself, the Special CBI court had granted them bail, however, the High Court had stayed the order, which remanded them to judicial custody. They were placed under house arrest on May 21 by the High Court, modifying its earlier order of stay on the bail.
Journalist Mathew Samuel of Narada News, a web portal, had conducted a Narada sting operation 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 four arrested politicians were ministers in the Mamata Banerjee government at that time. Ahead of the 2016 Assembly elections in West Bengal, the sting operation was made public. (ANI)