HC orders CBI to conduct preliminary inquiry into Narada sting case, terms West Bengal Police as `puppet`

The sting operation purportedly showed over a dozen TMC leaders including MPs, state ministers and former ministers accepting bundles of cash in return for doling out favours to a fictitious company.

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Friday ordered Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe Narada sting operation case.

A Division Bench of acting Chief Justice Nishita Mhatre and Justice T Chakraborty asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to complete its preliminary inquiry in 72 hours.

The court directed the CBI to register FIR, if required, after completion of the preliminary inquiry and initiate formal investigation thereafter.

Terming the state police a puppet, the bench said the society at large demands proper investigation on the issue.

The division bench noted that a report by the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL), Chandigarh, had said that the tapes were untampered.

Mathew Samuel, editor of Narada News, had told the court that the recordings were done using an iPhone, which were transferred to a laptop and were then stored in a pendrive.

All these devices were taken possession of by a committee set up by the high court.

Passing the order, the court observed that conduct of public figures must be beyond reproach.

Calling it a cognizable offence, the court said the matter involved parliament members, ministers and highly placed government officers of the state, and so a probe by an independent agency was required.

The judges also ordered suspension of and disciplinary inquiry against senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer SMH Mirza within 24 hours.

Mirza was seen in the footage and the website claimed that he described himself a "key person who collects funds for the Trinamool Congress".

The sting operation purportedly showed over a dozen Trinamool leaders including MPs, state ministers and former ministers accepting bundles of cash in return for doling out favours to a fictitious company. Released barely weeks before the staggered 2016 Assembly polls began, it set afire the already charged-up political atmosphere in the state, though all those shown in the video footage have vehemently denied any wrongdoing on their part.