| Friday , February 6 , 2015 |Hot Off Wi-fi | |||
| R. Balaji | |||
OOOOOOH! IS IT THE TELEGRAPH?  On a phone on a selfie-stick, Mamata Banerjee is being shown a ‘groupfie’ by Derek O’Brien at the launch of Wi-fi service on Park Street on Thursday. The event took place soon after the Supreme Court threw out the Bengal government’s pleas and clarified that the media can do its job. The chief minister has been persistently attacking the media for its Saradha coverage. On November 22, Mamata had told her party: “Don’t watch ABP Ananda. Lukiye lukiye-o dekhben na (don’t watch even on the sly). Don’t read Anandabazar and The Telegraph.” Picture by Pradip Sanyal • SC refuses to rein in media, says press is doing its job • Bengal govt withdraws demand for restraining media • SC tells Trinamul lawyer: ‘Don’t make this a political arena’ • SC directs CBI to take up non-Saradha cases as well • SC rejects contempt plea against Mamata over protests against CBI  Left with no other alternative in the wake of sustained questioning by a two-judge bench, Kapil Sibal, appearing for the state government, abruptly withdrew the Mamata government's demand for restraining the media from reporting purported leaks by the CBI on the ongoing investigations. "I am under instruction to say that we are not pressing our demand with regard to prayer Number 2 on restraining the media," Sibal told the bench of Justices T.S. Thakur and C. Nagappan. The government's prayer No. 2 sought a gag order on the media while prayer No. 1 related to the monitoring of the CBI probe by the Supreme Court. Both prayers were rejected today. Trinamul's Mohua Moitra had moved a separate petition that said the NDA government was targeting the party's important leaders to destabilise the state government. This plea was also rejected today, along with another that charged Mamata with contempt of court after her supporters, including the state law minister, held protests outside the CBI office in Salt Lake. However, the bench pulled up the CBI for reluctance to take up investigations into 317 Saradha-related cases and 491 non-Saradha cases, pursuant to the court's directives on May 9, 2014. The court order sent a wave of relief - if not vindication - among bureaucrats in Bengal who had advised the executive leadership against getting involved in what is being seen as a political battle. The Telegraph had reported on January 21 that there was a "major disagreement" between the chief minister on the one hand and the chief secretary and the home secretary on the other on the content of the petition. In the apex court, Sibal, a Congress leader who accepted the Mamata government's case much to the consternation of the state party unit and triggering suggestions of an eventual alliance, cited news reports to say that the CBI was deliberately leaking information to the media. "Your Lordships, there are some news reports from this Ananda Bazar Patrika... and other news sources. Everything that is happening (in the CBI probe) is being reported on a day-to-day basis. The CBI should be restrained from leaking the information to the media," Sibal added. The bench said: "Why should we say it is justified or not? We have transferred (the case) to the CBI. We said we don't need to monitor, but we kept the option open if anyone is aggrieved to approach us." Former additional solicitor-general Vivek Tankha, appearing for the Trinamul Congress, tried to contend that the CBI was leaking information and the apex court should monitor the investigations. But the bench said: "If the CBI is not doing the job, tell us. Is anything being neglected by the CBI? Tell us." Justice Thakur added: "If there is some political fallout, those are matters on which we don't want to say anything." Sibal interjected to complain that "every little thing is leaked out during questioning by the CBI". The bench said: "You want the CBI not to disclose anything. These are matters in which we don't like to interfere. The press is doing its job. They want to know the truth. Media is doing its job. Some of them may be correct, some of them may not be correct. Some of them may be accurate, some of them may be inaccurate." Sibal protested: "But this is not fair, we want to say 'please uphold the rule of law and protect an individual's right under Article 21 (right to liberty)'." Justice Thakur asked Sibal: "Are you accusing the CBI of making selective leaks?" Sibal: "No, we have brought to your notice...." Justice Thakur: "We can understand if some individual is harassed by the leaks. How has the state government come (to the court)?" Not political arena When Tankha tried to make a submission, the bench told him: "The CBI is investigating. Law will take its own course. If anyone is feeling hurt, he should seek redressal. Don't make this a political arena. There is an investigation. If anyone has a problem, he should go to the (trial) court by all means." "You tell us what the CBI was supposed to do and what they are not doing. We will ask them. If they are doing something illegal, seek redressal, you go to the court concerned," Justice Thakur said. Neither Tankha nor Sibal had answers for the court's questions. Tankha told the court that even minute details were being reported by the media. "So and so was questioned at 12 o' clock, that the said person asked for water and after questioning, he fainted and all such things," the Trinamul counsel said. Solicitor-general Ranjit Kumar, appearing for the CBI, told the court that the state government and Trinamul wanted to gag the media. He denied the allegation of the state government that many of the accused obtained bail as the CBI did not oppose the pleas. Rather, Kumar said, those accused were granted bail prior to April 16, 2014. The CBI had taken up the investigation after the apex court's directive on May 9. The court asked the solicitor-general how much more time the agency would take to complete investigations and the amount of money involved in the fraud. Kumar said it was difficult to fix any time frame for completion of the probe but the investigation was being done on a day-to-day basis. "What is the magnitude of the scam?" the court asked. Kumar said around 18 lakh investors were affected, involving an initial amount of Rs 2,400 crore. But the actual amount cannot be specified unless the investigation is completed, he added. "We are looking at the larger conspiracy and are following the trail abroad also," Kumar said. Can't stop media The court then asked him about the apprehensions expressed by the Bengal government and Trinamul on the CBI's alleged leaks to the media. The solicitor-general and a DIG-rank CBI officer told the bench that no officer interacted with journalists but the media deliberately sourced the news to the CBI to lend credibility to the reports. The agency, as a policy, does not want to contradict such reports, he added. Otherwise, its whole energy and resources will be expended in contradicting the media, he added. The court observed: "Media also has some interest as who is going to be the next person (for questioning or arrest). Some of them may also be perception. We will not be able to stop the media from doing it. The CBI is doing the work. Let us do our work." Non-Saradha cases The court also referred to cases other than those linked to the Saradha conspiracy. The bench told solicitor-general Kumar that if the CBI did not want to take up the other cases, it should file a formal application for modification of the May 9 order so that the local police could take up the investigations. Kumar said the agency was not keen on taking up all the cases but was focusing on investigations into "those cases which have a larger conspiracy angle and where the probe trail has led abroad also". Hence, he said, the CBI has identified certain cases for investigations as it does not have the infrastructure and manpower to deal with all other cases, most of which are related to individual investors. Sibal had commenced the arguments by saying the CBI was not conducting investigations into many Saradha and non-Saradha related cases. The bench responded: "You (the state government) have completed investigation in other cases. You have filed the chargesheet. You have not brought it (the scam) out. You pursue those cases where you have filed the chargesheet. It is their (the CBI's) outlook. We have given them the liberty to conduct further investigations. If they do not want to pursue, let them not. They are not standing in your way. You are free to prosecute in those cases where you have filed the chargesheet." Justice Thakur added: "If you have any problem, you take your redress to the sessions court or the high court. Let the law take its own course. Why should you come to us?" However, the bench later told the solicitor-general: "It is our order dated 9-5-2014 that you must take up the investigation into all Saradha and non-Saradha related cases. If you had any problem like infrastructure and manpower, you should have come to us with a modification application. But you cannot say you will not take up the cases." Kumar agreed to file a formal application. Contempt plea The court referred to the contempt petition filed against Mamata by the original petitioner, Pratim Singh Roy, for various protests launched against the CBI by her party supporters. The court said: "If there is an obstruction, the CBI should come and file an application for contempt. So far, the CBI has not come forward." The solicitor-general rose to say that "whenever they (officers) have to go to the court, they are intimidated. They are severely intimidated by people whom Mr Vivek Tankha represents (Trinamul)." "If there are any obstructions, take legal recourse," Justice Thakur told the CBI.
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