oppn parties Why Is The CBI Allowing Rajeev Kumar To Play Cat And Mouse With It?

Story Of The Day

Assessee Not Responsible For Ensuring TDS Is Paid To The Government: Delhi HC
OPINIONS : Strongly Expressed

January 22, 2025

People Are Talking About

Rohit Warns Sarfaraz, Police Use It To Warn Two-Wheeler Riders

News Snippets

  • Sikh extremists attacked a cinema hall in London that was playing Kangana Ranaut's controversial film 'Emergency'
  • A Delhi court directed the investigating agencies to senstize officers to collect nail clippings, fingernail scrappings or finger swab in order to get DNA profile as direct evidence of sexual attack is often not present and might result in an offender going scot free
  • Uniform Civil Code rules cleared by state cabinet, likely to be implemented in the next 10 days
  • Supreme Court reiterates that there is no point in arresting the accused after the chargesheet has been filed and the investigation is complete
  • Kolkata court sentences Sanjoy Roy, the sole accused in the R G Kar rape-murder case, to life term. West Bengal government and CBI to appeal in HC for the death penalty
  • Supreme Court stays criminal defamation case against Rahul Gandhi for his remarks against home minister Amit Shah in Jharkhand during the AICC plenary session
  • Government reviews import basket to align it with the policies of the Trump administration
  • NCLT orders liquidation of GoAir airlines
  • Archery - Indian archers bagged 2 silver in Nimes Archery tournament in France
  • Stocks make impressive gain on Monday - Sensex adds 454 points to 77073 and Nifty 141 points to 23344
  • D Gukesh draws with Fabiano Caruana in the Tata Steel chess tournament in the Netherlands
  • Women's U-19 T20 WC - In a stunning game, debutants Nigeria beat New Zealand by 2 runs
  • Rohit Sharma to play under Ajinkye Rahane in Mumbai's Ranji match against J&K
  • Virat Kohli to play in Delhi's last group Ranji trophy match against Saurashtra. This will be his first Ranji match in 12 years
  • The toll in the Rajouri mystery illness case rose to 17 even as the Centre sent a team to study the situation
Calling the case not 'rarest of rare', a court in Kolkata sentenced Sanjay Roy, the only accused in the R G Kar rape-murder case to life in prison until death
oppn parties
Why Is The CBI Allowing Rajeev Kumar To Play Cat And Mouse With It?

By Sunil Garodia

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.

Why is the CBI moving so hesitatingly in the case of Rajeev Kumar, the former commissioner of Kolkata Police? The man has not appeared before it for two days despite several notices to him directly and to his superiors in the West Bengal police administration, who had promptly asked him to appear before the agency. Ostensibly, he has informed his superiors that he is unable to appear because of "pressing personal reasons" and in a separate email to the CBI, sought a month's time. Why is the agency not moving to arrest him forthwith? It would have not wasted a single day before arresting the accused if he or she was a common man and not as privileged as Rajeev Kumar. Should we then infer that the law is different for the privileged?

While Kumar's lawyers made a mistake in approaching the Barasat Sessions court for anticipatory bail (which rejected it as it had no jurisdiction), it defies logic why the CBI's lawyers approached the same court to obtain an arrest warrant against him. Did they not know that the jurisdiction lay with the Alipore court? How could they be so sloppy?

Rajeev Kumar has been trying to dodge the CBI ever since his name came up for allegedly tampering with or destroying evidence in his possession as the head of the SIT that investigated the Saradha scam. The first time he appeared before the agency was after the Supreme Court directed him to do so. But this time, after the Calcutta High Court withdrew the protection from arrest, Kumar, as a law-abiding citizen, should have appeared before the agency after the notice was served on him. That he chose to ignore the notice and asked for time showed that he has scant respect for the very same law that he is mandated to uphold as an officer in the West Bengal police force.

The CBI should locate Kumar and obtain an arrest warrant to take him into custody. No one, however highly placed, should be allowed to make a mockery of due process. When the Supreme Court did not allow the former finance minister Chidambaram to abuse the process, Kumar will not get relief even if he approaches the apex court. If he is wanted in connection with the ongoing investigations in a case, he is bound to appear before the agency. By delaying, he is only making things more difficult for himself.

Other Stories You Make Like

Editorials

Turmoil In Mollywood

Turmoil In Mollywood

NDA 3.0: Coalition Dharma

NDA 3.0: Coalition Dharma

In Depth

Supreme Court Gets Strict On Child Pornography

Supreme Court Gets Strict On Child Pornography

Editor's Pick

Budapest Chess Olympiad: India Are World Team Champions

Budapest Chess Olympiad: India Are World Team Champions
© 2014 India Commentary. All rights reserved.