CBI sought transfer of Narada case out of Bengal

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday, during a hearing in Calcutta High Court, sought transfer of the Narada bribery case out of the state. In its plea before the High Court, the CBI said it could not seek their custody on Monday "as a result of the terror created by and at the behest of the arrested accused persons" by the presence Chief Minister and the others.The agency has asked that the four accused, who were arrested earlier this week and are now in jail, be placed in police custody.

Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, her law minister Moloy Ghatak and party leader Kalyan Banerjee have been made party to the Narada case by the CBI.The Chief Minister, the CBI said, had remained present outside its office "along with a well-engineered crowd of thousands of miscreants and after ensuring media presence". This, the agency said in its petition, was "part of the larger and well thought of design to terrorize the investigating agency and preventing it from discharging its statutory functions freely and fearlessly". In the circumstances, asking for their custody and their movement would have led to serious law and order problem, and it refrained from doing so out of prudence, the agency said.

The four arrested leaders had got bail after a seven-hour drama on Monday but it was put on hold by the High Court the same evening following an appeal by the agency. The issue also reached the Supreme Court with a caveat filed by the CBI after the ministers asked the High Court for a revocation of its order.  Bengal Ministers Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherjee, Trinamool MLA Madan Mitra and Sovan Chatterjee -- who went from the Trinamool to the BJP but quit that party too -- were arrested in the Narada case on Monday after the Governor gave clearance for their prosecution.