The Supreme Court on Tuesday, 22 June, deferred the hearing of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s plea – moved after the Calcutta High Court denied her permission to file an affidavit in the Narada bribery case – to Friday, 25 June.
Banerjee had been made a party in the case over her role on 17 May, when the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested four Trinamool Congress leaders in connection with the case, reported news agency ANI.
West Bengal Law Minister Moloy Ghatak has also moved the apex court over the same denial by Calcutta HC.
The matter was previously scheduled to be heard in the apex court on Tuesday. However, as it was adjourned to a later date of 25 June by the court on the day, the bench also said it hoped that the Calcutta HC will not take up the matter on any date prior to Friday, as per a Bar & Bench report.
Justices Vineet Saran and Dinesh Maheshwari will be presiding over the case.
Justice Aniruddha Bose, who had previously been slated to hear the Narada case, recused himself on Tuesday, saying, "I do not want to hear this case," as per an NDTV report. Consequently, another judge, Justice Hemant Gupta, asked for the case to be posted before another Bench.
What Has Happened So Far?
The allegations levelled are that the Trinamool leaders played a key role in stopping the CBI from performing its legal duty after arresting four party leaders on 17 May in the case.
According to IANS, the Supreme Court on Friday had agreed to hear the appeals against the Calcutta High Court order denying CM Banerjee and Ghatak from filing the affidavits.
A bench comprising Justices Hemant Gupta and V. Ramasubramanian, in its order, said: "Tushar Mehta, SG has put appearance on behalf of the respondents. Let a copy of these petitions be served upon the office of the Solicitor General. At the joint request of the parties, list the matters on 22 June. We hope that the High Court will not take up the matter on 21 June and 22 June."
The top court asked the high court to consider the matter after the apex court considers the appeals of the state and Ghatak against the order.
A five-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court on 9 June, hearing the CBI's application for transfer of the Narada case from the special CBI court to the high court, had said it will consider later the affidavits by Banerjee and Ghatak.
Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for Ghatak, had said that the minister was attending the cabinet meeting and was not on the court premises at the time of hearing. He emphasised that the CBI had addressed the court virtually.
Solicitor General Mehta had contended before the court that the affidavits cannot be accepted on the ground of delay as they were filed after the completion of his arguments. On 9 June, the high court had decided to consider later the affidavits filed by Banerjee and Ghatak.
(With inputs from ANI, NDTV, Bar and Bench and IANS)
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