Saradha chit fund case: SC gives 7 days to ex-Kolkata top cop to seek bail

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday gave former Kolkata commissioner Rajeev Kumar seven days to approach appropriate courts to seek protection from arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The CBI wants him for his alleged role in destroying evidence in connection with the Saradha chit fund case. The CBI has told the apex court that there is prima facie evidence that Kumar destroyed papers to ‘shield the high and mighty’ involved in the scam.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi asked the CBI to act in accordance with law in the case.

The top bench withdrew protection given to Kumar from arrest but said he had seven days to approach for anticipatory bail.

The CBI had failed on February 3 to interrogate Kumar as its officers were stopped at the gate. Soon after, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had staged a sit-in to protest what she called an ‘attack on constitutional norms’.

The top court ordered CBI a week later to question Kumar. That happened in Shillong over five days. The top court had also ordered that Kumar could not be arrested.

The Saradha scam was a huge financial fraud which lured lakhs of investors to deposit money with the promise of very high returns. Saradha group of companies had reportedly amassed Rs 1,200 crore though its chit funds. Some put the figure at Rs 4,000 crore. The company went red in April 2013.