The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday said it would later decide on considering the affidavits by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and state Law Minister Moloy Ghatak on their roles on May 17, the day four leaders, three of them from the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), were arrested by the CBI in the Narada case.
Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta objected to the acceptance of the affidavits, claiming they were filed after he completed his arguments.
Appearing for the chief minister, senior counsel Rakesh Dwivedi submitted that the affidavit concerns a person who does not have anything to do with the case. “Apologies for the inconvenience, but it is a question of justice. This affidavit was filed on behalf of an accused who does not have anything to do with the case. If the affidavit is ignored, the interests of justice will not be served. These are serious charges by the CBI, therefore they should prove the facts. Why should he [Mehta] shy away from bringing out the facts?”
Advocate-General Kishore Dutta cited Calcutta High Court Rules and said they do not prevent affidavits from being filed once arguments commence. “We have a right to file it within four weeks under the Rules,” he added.
Meanwhile, the TMC targeted BJP MLA and Leader of the Opposition in state Assembly Suvendu Adhikari for saying there is “no democracy in West Bengal”.
Referring to Adhikari’s Delhi visit, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said, “The person who is knocking on the doors of Union ministers has undertaken this trip for self-defence. He has gone there to escape from the CBI probe. He is lobbying so that Lok Sabha Speaker does not give the CBI permission to prosecute him.”
Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/narada-hearing-calcutta-hc-to-later-decide-on-considering-affidavits-of-cm-law-minister-7351873/
