Supreme Court issues notice to Rajeev Kumar on CBI's plea challenging his pre-arrest bail

IPS officer Rajeev Kumar received a notice from the Supreme Court on Friday as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had challenged his anticipatory bail which was granted to him by the Calcutta High Court. This was in connection with the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam. A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India Sharad Arvind Bobde asked the probe agency to present facts before it and explain why custodial interrogation of Kumar is required.

Pre-arrest bail 

There is a provision where one can avail for an anticipatory bail immediately after an FIR is registered against them. The provision of pre-arrest bail allows a person to seek bail in anticipation of an arrest. The Calcutta High Court had granted interim protection from arrest to Kumar last month.  

Read: Saradha scam: SC to hear appeal against Rajeev Kumar's bail filed by CBI

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) challenged the Calcutta High Court’s decision in order to get permission for custodial interrogation of Rajeev Kumar. CBI in its plea to the Supreme Court said that they needed to probe whether Kumar sabotaged the investigation in the case. The CBI bench asked that "He is a high-rank police officer. Why do you require his custodial interrogation? You need to explain before us the reasons for it”.

Read: SC Notice To Rajeev Kumar On CBI's Appeal Challenging His Bail Rajeev Kumar 

Rajeev Kumar, who is a 1989 batch IPS officer was accused of destroying all the evidence related to the Sharada chit-fund scam. It is alleged that Rajeev Kumar did it when he was heading the special investigation team (SIT) in West Bengal to probe the scam. He is currently the Additional Director General (ADG) of the West Bengal Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

Read: Saradha cop Rajeev Kumar appears at Alipore Court, gets bail validated

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had come out in Kumar's defence and started a sit-in protest against the Centre's move. The Supreme Court had, on February 5, prevented the CBI from taking any coercive action against Kumar and directed him to cooperate with the agency for questioning at a "neutral place". He was then quizzed by the agency for nearly 40 hours over five days at its office in Shillong in February.

Read: Rajeev Kumar gets anticipatory bail from Calcutta HC in Saradha case