The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to examine the records of an investigation against Sumit Roy, Trinamool Congress (TMC) lawmaker Abhishek Banerjee’s personal assistant (PA), while posting his anticipatory bail plea in an alleged land-grabbing case for hearing next week. It stayed Roy’s arrest on August 6.
Roy’s lawyer, senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, said his client has been cooperating since the August 6 order. Roy moved the Supreme Court after the Calcutta high court dismissed his anticipatory bail plea on August 3. It has been going on for long. “But do you need his custody? He sought a copy of the confidential information shared with the court. “He is coming for investigation, but is not cooperating. The probe against him began after former TMC legislator Sujoy Hazra accused Roy of involvement in alleged irregularities in the sale of large tracts of government land in West Midnapore’s Salboni based on fabricated documents.
The West Bengal Police told the court that Roy is not cooperating although he has appeared before the investigating officer. They submitted investigation records and said the case is only the “tip of the iceberg”, requesting the court to go through it before passing any order. Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, who appeared for the state, said, “I have examined the records, and I can say this is only the tip of the iceberg. The bench said they are not going to impede the investigation. The bench said that since the investigation is pending, it will be improper to share it. Mehta told the court that Roy refused to give information. He is not answering our questions,” Mehta said. Sankaranarayanan said Roy has a constitutionally protected right to remain silent. The court said both the right to silence of the accused and the investigation agency’s right to arrest are protected.
