Saradha: Don't make Supreme Court a political arena

Kolkata, Feb 6: Several top level officials in West Bengal knew well before hand what to expect in the Supreme Court in the Saradha case. Most of the high ranking officials stayed away from the discussions relating to a petition that sought to monitor the CBI in the Saradha probe.

However at the Supreme Court yesterday it was an embarrassing day for the West Bengal government and the Trinamool Congress in particular after a series of their pleas were turned out by a Division Bench comprising Justice Tirath S Thakur and Justice C Nagappan.

Set back for the TMC:

The TMC leadership was banking heavily on the the Supreme Court and would have expected some amount of relief. Even a small observation against the CBI would have done for the party which has been beaten down badly by the Saradha probe.

While the West Bengal government knew all along that it would not get major relief in the Supreme Court, this petition was still being used as a weapon against the CBI.

The West Bengal government would have hoped that the CBI would cool off a little bit at least after this petition was filed. However with the strong worded verdict of the Supreme Court it has put the TMC further on the backfoot.

The media is doing its job:

Going by the contents of the petition it becomes amply clear that more than the probe, the TMC was worried about what is appearing the media. A large number of people especially in West Bengal are viewing with disgust the media reports about the TMC and this has damaged the party a great deal.

The Supreme Court while delivering the verdict relating to restraining the media said that the media was just doing its job.

The counsel appearing for the West Bengal government said that there are reports in news sources that everything happening in the probe is being reported on a day to day basis. Please restrain the CBI from leaking information.

Justice Thakur retorted that the press is doing its job. Some may be correct and some inaccurate. These are not matters we normally interfere with. We can understand if some individual is affected by the leaks. How has the state government to come to the court on this?

Why monitor when the SC ordered the probe?

The West Bengal government repeatedly requested the court to monitor the CBI probe. The Bench was however clear and said it is the Supreme Court which transferred the case to the CBI in the first place. However if someone is aggrieved they are free to approach the court.

We do not need to monitor the probe. Tell us if the CBI is not doing its job, then we will look into it. If you speak about a political fallout as a result of this probe, then these are issues we do not speak about.

If people are upset with the probe then let them come before us. There is no need to make the Supreme Court a political arena, the Supreme Court also told the West Bengal government.

OneIndia News