SC to hear CBI's plea on Tuesday against West Bengal Chief Secretary, DGP, Kolkata Police chief for violation of court orders

The Supreme Court on Tuesday will hear the pleas filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar and West Bengal government for alleged non-cooperation in a case connected with Saradha chit fund scam.

On Monday, the CBI filed a contempt plea in the apex court against West Bengal Chief Secretary, Director General of Police and Kolkata Police Commissioner for wilful and deliberate violation of the apex court orders.

A three-judge SC bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Deepak Gupta and Justice Sanjiv Khanna will hear the pleas.

Meanwhile, Rajeev Kumar is said to have moved the Calcutta High Court against the issue.

A political firestorm raged on Monday as Mamata Banerjee's sit-in protest against CBI's bid to question Kolkata police chief in chit fund scam cases entered the second day, with the West Bengal Chief Minister declaring her agitation to save the "Constitution and country" will go on and she was ready to face the consequences.

Virtually all opposition parties rallied behind Banerjee's direct confrontation with the Modi government, even as the BJP called it an "alliance of corrupt" and Home Minister Rajnath Singh told Parliament that developments in West Bengal were indicative of a "breakdown of the Constitution".

Trinamool workers took to streets burning effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah and blocked trains, while the BJP lined up its top leaders to step up the counter-offensive against Banerjee and other opposition leaders.

The ripple effect of political tremors in West Bengal were felt in several state capitals, as Banerjee's combative posturing on the issue drew support from several regional satraps trying to sew up an anti-BJP alliance ahead of Lok Sabha polls, expected in April-May.

"This is a satyagraha and I'll continue (it) till the country is saved... Constitution is saved," the firebrand TMC boss said at the protest site.

The tense standoff between the CBI and the Kolkata police for the second day echoed in Parliament and led to a washout of the proceedings following opposition protests.

"There may be breakdown of Constitution in West Bengal...Under the Constitution, the central government has been vested with the power to maintain normalcy in any part of the country," Singh told Lok Sabha.

"Whatever happened on Sunday indicates constitutional breakdown," he said.

Singh also sought a report from Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi which was promptly sent by Raj Bhavan. "I do not have any grudge against any individual. But I am angry over the way institutions are being destroyed and misused," Banerjee told the gathering at the protest venue.

She said it was her government that arrested Saradha chairman Sudipta Sen and claimed Rs 250-300 crore was returned to the duped depositors.

The alleged ponzi scams at Saradha and Rose Valley groups are at the centre of what has become a major political controversy now, as the BJP leaders have alleged that the ruling party leaders in West Bengal have been among major beneficiaries of fraudulent collection of money.