"The Matter Has To Be Heard De Novo": Supreme Court Hearing In Narada Scam Case- Full Courtroom Exchange

In connection with the Narada hearing, the state of West Bengal on Friday told the SC that it was not even given a copy of CBI's letter to the Calcutta HC CJ, that the HC had stated that it shall hear only the recall applications first and not the matter on merits and that it sends out a wrong message that while the CBI can file it affidavit without any application, the state is required to file one to have its affidavit taken on record.The Supreme Court on Friday directed the State of West Bengal, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and the State Law Minister Moloy Ghatak - who are challenging the refusal of the Calcutta High Court to accept their affidavits filed in the Narada case - to file an application before the High Court stating the reasons for not filing such affidavits earlier.They are directed to file the applications by June 28, after serving advance copies to the CBI on June 27. The CBI has been given liberty to file reply to the applications.The Supreme Court further requested the High Court to decide first the applications seeking acceptance of affidavits on the next scheduled hearing date, June 29.The bench of Justices Vineet Saran and Dinesh Maheshwari was hearing the matter'Counter affidavit necessary because CBI alleges presence of CM, Law Minister as grounds for transfer, nullifying special judge proceedings; Also, idea of 'filling up lacuna' not relevant in criminal jurisdiction where court, CBI bound to ascertain truth'- Rakesh DwivediSenior Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, for the CM and the Law Minister: The matter is about counter affidavits filed by chief minister, the state and law minister. The state filed it on June 7 and we filed on June 9. Without going into the merits of the matter, because that is still before larger bench of the HC, and confining myself to the issue of admission, let me begin by saying that this is a case where effective hearing began on 31st of May. The larger bench sat for the first time on 24th of May but it kept getting adjourned. We were impleaded right from the beginning, when an application-cum-writ petition was filed by CBI. They were also 4 applications filed by the accused persons who were arrested. On June 9, when the impugned order was passed, only the first accused had addressed the court. On 27th May, the Court said that, first of all, we will decide the applications of recall of stay on bail, moved by the accused persons. On 31st May, the hearing began, the court had some queries from SG Tushar Mehta about timings etc. On June 2, an additional affidavit was filed by CBI. On June 3, the SG finished his argument. On the same date, Mr. Kalyan Banerjee, the senior advocate who appeared before the special Judge and who is member of Parliament, filed his personal affidavit which has not been rejected. (The affidavit stated that West Bengal Law Minister Moloy Ghatak was not present in the court room of the special CBI court on May 17 when the bail plea of four TML leaders arrested in the Narada case was being heard). On June 4, 5 and 6, there was no sitting of the larger bench. The state filed a counter on 7 and we filed it on 9th morning.Mr. Dwivedi explained that the main ground for why their counter affidavit must be taken on record is that though the question raised by the CBI is with regard to the transfer of the matter to the High Court itself, their second prayer is on account of what happened in the office of the CBI where the chief minister is said to be present with the crowd and on account of the second incident which is attributed to the law minister being present in the court with the crowd. "These are the reasons for the transfer also and they are made the reason for another prayer that on account of the presence of these people and the crowd, the impression which will go to the people is that the special judge granted bail because of the influence of the state ministers. The argument was that the justice must not only be done but must also be seen to be done.They prayed that the order of the special judge be declared a nullity on account of this event which creates a likelihood of bias and is obstructionist in nature", he submitted, adding that though the charge of obstruction is an offence under sections 186 and 189 of the IPC, there is no FIR."The HC said because the SG has concluded his arguments, by filing this counter affidavit, we are trying to fill up the lacuna. This idea of 'lacuna' is an idea pertaining to civil jurisdiction where suits et cetera are filed. It has no relevance to criminal jurisdiction because here, both the court and the CBI as an agency, need to find the truth and the correct facts as they happened and then see their repercussions. To shut out the affidavit on the ground that it seeks to fill some lacuna is not relevant", he argued.'State impleaded on May 27 by HC order and served notice, HC said it will first hear recall; CBI filed affidavit on June 2 without liberty and introduced completely new facts'-...

"The Matter Has To Be Heard De Novo": Supreme Court Hearing In Narada Scam Case- Full Courtroom Exchange

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