Special court refuses to hear Rajeev Kumar's anticipatory bail plea in Saradha scam

Kolkata: Former Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar moved a special court in Barasat on Tuesday, seeking anticipatory bail in connection with a CBI notice to him for appearing before it in the multi-crore Saradha chit-fund scam.

But the special court judge Sanjib Talukdar refused to hear Kumar's plea, saying it does not have jurisdiction to hear anticipatory bail prayers. The special court, in charge of trial of criminal cases against MPs and MLAs, said it is a trial court and cannot hear an anticipatory bail application. It said Kumar may move the court of Barasat district sessions judge with his application.

On September 13, the Calcutta High Court vacated its interim order granting the former Kolkata police commissioner protection from arrest in the Saradha chit-fund scam case. The high court also rejected Kumar's prayer for quashing a CBI notice that sought his appearance for questioning in the case.

Kumar, who is currently the West Bengal CID Additional Director General, was part of a Special Investigation Team set up by the state government to investigate the scam, before the Supreme Court handed over the case to CBI in 2014, along with other chit-fund cases.