The Supreme Court on Monday criticised the Central investigating agencies over the pace of the probe into the affairs of Leaps and Bounds Pvt Ltd, a company linked to Trinamool Congress Secretary Abhishek Banerjee, in connection with the West Bengal School Service Commission scam. The Court orally observed that the agencies had “dragged their feet” in pursuing custodial interrogation and investigating "certain persons" despite repeated concerns raised by the Calcutta High Court.

The sharp observations came during the hearing of the bail plea of Sumit Roy, aide of Trinamool Congress Secretary Abhishek Banerjee, in a land scam case.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana was hearing the matter.

Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for Roy, who was earlier granted interim protection from arrest, told the Bench that his client had fully cooperated with the investigation and had answered questions put to him. However, he alleged that investigators had instead spent considerable time questioning Roy about his family and a political party, including its recruitment process and sources of funding.

The senior counsel said the interrogation had been completely videographed and urged the Supreme Court to examine the recordings to determine what had actually transpired.

“He has been called for this FIR for a few days. Then when there is a one-day break, he is called in the other FIR of the CID for two days, then back on this,” Sankaranarayanan submitted, describing the questioning as lasting eight to nine hours a day.

He said the original allegation against Roy involved a single transaction of ₹10 lakh, but investigators were now alleging a much larger organised operation involving the conversion and sale of government and vested land as private property.

The Court was also told that Roy had been confronted with two individuals during questioning. According to his counsel, the alleged main accused denied having interacted with Roy, while another person, described as a driver, also said he had not met Roy.

SC seeks interrogation records

The Supreme Court asked the State to produce the interrogation material. Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, for the State of West Bengal, said the audio-video recordings, if available, would be shared with the court.

“We would like to see that file,” Chief Justice Surya Kant said.

The hearing then turned to alleged lapses in the investigation of Leaps and Bounds, a company linked to Abhishek Banerjee, that has figured in the Bengal SSC scam investigation.

The Solicitor General told the court that around ₹30 crore had been transferred from the Trinamool Congress party's account to Leaps and Bounds, which he described as a tainted company that had already been chargesheeted in the SSC scam investigation. "From this account of the political party, approximately ₹30 crore was transferred to one Leaps and Bounds, a company which is under investigation, long back chargesheeted in the SSC scam."

Justice Bagchi responded critically. “The less said about your agencies' conduct, the better,” the judge observed, referring to the extent to which the agencies had allegedly delayed custodial interrogation despite observations by several Calcutta High Court judges.

"The extent to which your agencies dragged their feet with regard to custodial interrogation of persons in the Leaps and Bounds investigation, despite observations by various judges of the Calcutta High Court, the less said about your agencies' conduct, the better," Justice Bagchi said.

SG replied that it was because the agencies were under the control of the accused. "The reason is, the agencies were substantially under the influence and control of the accused. That's the answer," the SG said. Sankaranarayanan then interjected to point out that the investigation in the SSC case is being handled by the Enforcement Directorate. "The investigation [was] by the Central Bureau of Investigation; the collateral investigation of cases of crime, was by the Enforcement Directorate only," SG clarified.

Justice Bagchi then told the SG, "Give me a minute. Take instructions from your Deputy Solicitor General, from your ASG and other assisting counsel...the number of times various judges of the High Court had to express despair at the agencies' slow movement in the manner of investigation, in the intensity of interrogation of certain persons who may have been involved."

The Solicitor General assured the court that all relevant material would be placed on record and that nothing would be concealed from the Bench.