Supreme Court judge L Nageswara Rao on Wednesday recused himself from hearing a plea filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation against the lack of cooperation by authorities in West Bengal in the inquiry into the Saradha chit fund scam, PTI reported.
The court adjourned the hearing of the plea after Rao said he had appeared for the state as a lawyer and therefore cannot hear the case. The bench also comprised Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna.
Another bench will be formed to hear the matter on February 27.
The CBI had filed a contempt petition in the Supreme Court alleging that Rajeev Kumar, Kolkata police commissioner at the time, and the West Bengal government did not cooperate with the investigation into the Saradha chit fund scam.
The West Bengal government and police on Monday rejected in the top court allegations made by the CBI that they had obstructed the inquiry into the chit fund scam. The West Bengal Police claimed the CBI had forcibly tried to enter Rajeev Kumar’s official residence on February 3 without valid papers.
The CBI had interrogated Kumar in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam earlier this month. The CBI claimed that Kumar was absconding when it issued repeated summons to him in the case last month. The agency also alleged that the Kolkata Police had prevented its officials from entering Kumar’s residence on February 3.
On Tuesday, the West Bengal government transferred Kumar to the Crime Investigation Department, where he will take over as the additional director general of police and inspector general of police.
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