Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials visited the West Bengal Assembly on Wednesday after Speaker Biman Banerjee asked them to meet him in connection with the chargesheet filed in the Narada case. Officials from both the ED and CBI submitted a letter after visiting the Assembly, but did not meet the Speaker.
A representative of the ED came to the Assembly on Wednesday afternoon. However, he left after submitting a letter without meeting the Speaker. In that letter, in response to the summons of the Assembly Speaker, the ED wrote, “You have no right to call.” Similarly, a representative from the CBI visited the Assembly, but he, too, submitted a letter to the secretary of the Assembly, and did not meet the Speaker.
The ED and the CBI had recently charged and summoned several MLAs of the ruling TMC, including ministers, for their alleged involvement in ponzi scam cases and the Narada sting operation case. Speaker Biman Banerjee had asked both the CBI and ED officials to meet him over the names of MLAs mentioned in chargesheet. Banerjee has maintained that the Speaker’s office was not kept in the loop and no permission was taken from it while initiating action against the MLAs. The chargesheet filed in the Narada case mentions the names of three TMC MLAs, including Firhad Hakim, Subrata Mukherjee, and Madan Mitra. The special court of the ED then issued summons in their names. The summons was sent to the Assembly through the Speaker to reach the accused. But the legislature refused to send the summons. The Speaker has maintained that in order to file a chargesheet against a MLA under Prevention of Corruption Act 19 (1), the approval of the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly is required, but that was not taken. The Speaker claimed that “attempts have been made to tarnish the image of the Legislative Assembly. Approval is being brought by excluding the Assembly. I will not allow the glory of this holy place to be ruined.”
The Speaker alleged that the ED and the CBI have violated the existing law on issuing charge-sheets to public representatives, and he complained that it was done on purpose. The Assembly authorities summoned both the parties to find out why this was done. That letter was sent last Saturday. At the same time, the Assembly authorities have raised the question of how the ED and CBI gave the charge-sheet without the approval of the Speaker. Representatives of CBI and ED were directed to appear in the Assembly at 1 pm on 22 September, the Speaker had said. Speaker Biman Banerjee also sent a letter to Nizam’s Palace. Although representatives were sent on behalf of the two central agencies on Wednesday, none of them met the Speaker, and just submitted a letter.
The ED has given its legal explanation in the context of the Speaker’s letter and summons. And legally they did not make a mistake, that explanation is known to be detailed in the letter. The CBI has also made almost the same argument. Now, Speaker Biman Banerjee has said, “No one is above the law. This chapter is not closed. The matter is being taken seriously.” Meanwhile, according to sources, the two agencies are being recalled by the Assembly authorities.