Political parties in West Bengal, including the ruling TMC and opposition BJP, have condemned the organizers of an event featuring Lionel Messi in Kolkata after it descended into chaos due to spectators' inability to properly view the football star. Demands for action and accountability have been made.
The four leaders were arrested on the morning of May 17 by the CBI, which is investigating the Narada sting tapes case on a 2017 order of the Calcutta high court.
The high court had on May 21 ordered shifting of two West Bengal ministers, an MLA and a former Kolkata mayor to house arrest from jail.
The Narada sting tapes, made public before the 2016 assembly elections in West Bengal, were claimed to have been shot in 2014, wherein people resembling TMC ministers, MPs and MLAs were allegedly seen receiving money from representatives of a fictitious company in lieu of promised favours.
Khushi fares better in emotional scenes but her chemistry with Junaid has the passion of a toothpaste campaign, observes Sukanya Verma.
Supreme Court judge Justice Aniruddha Bose on Tuesday recused himself from hearing appeals of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and state law minister Moloy Ghatak about their role on the day of arrest of four TMC leaders by the CBI in the Narada sting tape case.
If the sanction is accorded, the four leaders might be named in the charge sheet.
The Calcutta high court on Friday ordered house arrest of four political leaders, including two Bengal ministers, who were held in the Narada sting tapes case earlier in the week.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has moved the Supreme Court challenging the Calcutta high court's denial for filing of affidavits by her and state Law Minister Moloy Ghatak on their role on the day of arrest of four Trinamool Congress leaders on May 17 by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with the Narada sting tape case.
The CBI has "sought permission from the Lok Sabha Speaker to prosecute Suvendu Adhikari, Saugata Roy, Prasun Banerjee and Kakali Ghosh Dastidar", who were all TMC MPs when the operation was allegedly conducted, the official explained.
The four were kept at the CBI office in Nizam Palace following their arrest in the morning from their homes in different parts of Kolkata.
Mathew Samuel said that steps against corruption are needed and investigations should be fair.
The Supreme Court on Friday annulled the Calcutta high court's June 9 order refusing to take on record the reply-affidavits of West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and state Law Minister Moloy Ghatak on their role on the day of arrest of four Trinamool Congress leaders on May 17 by the Central Bureau of Investigation in Narada scam case.
Mirza was produced before a special CBI court in Kolkata, which remanded him in the central probe agency's custody till September 30.
The division bench said it deemed it appropriate to stay the special court's order and direct that the "accused person shall be treated to be in judicial custody till further orders".
Bengal ministers Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherjee were taken to the Central Bureau of Investigation office on Monday in connection with the Narada sting operation, officials said.
Any erosion in the TMC, may benefit the BJP, reports Ishita Ayan Dutt.
The opposition parties termed the order of the inquiry a gimmick to fool the masses and cover up the important evidences in the sting operation.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that her party would fight it both "politically and legally"
'She could have sat down with the students and taken a list of their grievances including their allegations and suspicions.' 'Not all suspicions are true, but you have to listen, you have to let the steam come out.'
In a setback to Trinamool Congress, the Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a Calcutta high court order asking the Central Bureau of Investigation to probe the Narada sting case in which several ruling party leaders of West Bengal were allegedly caught on camera taking money.
Twelve Trinamool Congress leaders including Mukul Roy and Madan Mitra have been booked by the Central Bureau of Investigation for alleged criminal conspiracy and corruption in the Narada sting case wherein they were purportedly filmed while taking money.
A team of CBI officers reached his residence in south Kolkata's Chetla area along with a large contingent of central forces in the morning, officials said.
Trinamool Congress MLA Madan Mitra and former party leader Sovan Chatterjee, who were arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the Narada sting case, were admitted to a hospital in Kolkata early on Tuesday after their health condition deteriorated in a correctional home, an official said.
Adhikari, leader of the opposition in the West Bengal assembly, denied the charge, saying that he had recently gone to Mehta's residence in Delhi regarding a case related to "post-poll violence" in the state but "could not meet him in person".
Expressing concern over agitation by Trinamool Congress workers outside the Central Bureau of Investigation office in Kolkata and elsewhere in West Bengal after the arrest of two ministers and others in the Narada sting case, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday alleged that there is 'total lawlessness and anarchy' in the state and the police and administration are in 'silence' mode.
Saha, an MLA from the Burwan constituency, was being questioned by the CBI since April 14 in connection with the case as searches went on at his house in connection with the illegal recruitments in state sponsored and aided schools, they said.
Soon after coming out of the ED office in Kolkata, Banerjee said the interrogation was an effort to prevent him from participating in the INDIA meet and a testimony to the vital role TMC is playing in forging the opposition unity.
The Trinamool Congress on Monday wrote to Kolkata Police Commissioner Soumen Mitra seeking 'necessary action' under the law against the Central Bureau of Investigaton officials who arrested three senior party leaders 'illegally'.
Amid the ongoing debate over the Trinamool Congress seeking removal of Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta over his alleged meeting with West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party leader Suvendu Adhikari, TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh on Tuesday dropped unannounced at Mehta's residence, but was denied entry.
Adhikari, the leader of the opposition in the West Bengal assembly, had also denied the meeting, saying that he had recently gone to Mehta's residence in Delhi regarding a case related to "post-poll violence" in the state but "could not meet him in person".
A Bharatiya Janata Party leader, who the Trinamool Congress said is a brother-in-law of the saffron party's national vice-president Mukul Roy, rejoined the ruling party of West Bengal on Wednesday.
Trinamool Congress supporters held demonstrations defying lockdown norms in various places, while Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee offered to court arrest on Monday against the arrest of two West Bengal ministers in the Narada case by the CBI.
Sources said the reshuffle will also aim at an image makeover for the party hit by school jobs scam probe.
"Tapas Paul was under tremendous pressure from central agencies and was a victim of the Centre's vendetta politics," she told reporters at Rabindra Sadan where Paul's mortal remains have been kept for people to pay homage.
'He is not a person to challenge the government.' 'He is a man who is known to go with the flow' Aditi Phadnis reports.
After the Trinamool's overwhelming majority in the West Bengal assembly elections last year, the SSC scam has given fresh ammunition to the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Communist Party of India-Marxist. Ishita Ayan Dutt reports.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday accused the Centre of pursuing vindictive politics and using central agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate to terrorise people in the non Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states.
Accusing the BJP of trying to poach TMC MLAs by attempting to bribe them, Banerjee, without naming anyone, said some people are acting as fence-sitters who are under the illusion that the saffron party might come to power in the state.
Senior Trinamool Congress leader Subrata Mukherjee died while being treated for cardiac ailments at a state-run hospital in Kolkata on Thursday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said.
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