Arrest of TMC leaders by CBI is blatant abuse of prosecutorial process: Congress leader

By Amit Kumar

New Delhi [India], May 17 (ANI): Strongly opposing the arrest of TMC leaders by the CBI on Monday in Narada scam, senior Congress leader and former Union Law Minister Ashwani Kumar said the move is a blatant abuse of prosecutorial processes.

Speaking to ANI, Kumar said, "The imprint of partisan politics is writ large in the blatant abuse of prosecutorial processes by the CBI against political adversaries of the ruling BJP. Resort to arbitrary criminal prosecution and custody of the accused by enforcement agencies to deprive citizens of their fundamental liberties is clearly against the first principles of our libertarian constitution. Detention of the accused militates against recent judgments of the Supreme Court that scoff at routine incarceration of political activists."

Ashwani Kumar pointed out that bail and not jail is the fundamental tenet of our criminal and libertarian jurisprudence. He said the arrest is the brazen attempt to browbeat Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee after her triumphant win in the recently held Bengal Assembly elections.

"The CBI's insistence on custody of the accused is, therefore, wholly unsustainable in law. The manner of exercise of the power of law enforcement in a democracy is accountable to constitutional imperatives and it is important that justice is not only done but is also seen to be done," added Kumar.

Earlier on Monday, CBI arrested top TMC leaders Madan Mitra, Firhad Hakim, Subrata Mukherjee and former TMC MLA Sovan Chatterjee in connection with the Narada scam.

The case is related to a sting operation, commonly known as Narada Sting Operation, in which these public servants were caught on camera while receiving illegal gratification from the Sting Operator. (ANI)