SC: CBI can quiz Kolkata top cop in Shillong, but not arrest him. Delhi & Didi claim win

NEW DELHI: Putting an end to the West Bengal government's aggressive resistance to CBI's effort to interrogate Kolkata police chief Rajeev Kumar in connection with the chit fund scam, the Supreme Court on Monday asked the IPS officer to appear before the agency for questioning in Shillong and "faithfully cooperate with the investigating agency at all times", but restrained the CBI from arresting him.
In the backdrop of massive mobilisation of state police personnel on Sunday who detained the CBI men who went to Kumar's residence to question him and laid siege to the CBI office as well as the residence of a CBI joint director, a bench of CJI Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna acceded to attorney general K K Venugopal's request for a neutral venue to question the police commissioner.
"To avoid any unnecessary controversy, we direct the commissioner of (Kolkata) police to appear before the investigating agency in Shillong, Meghalaya, on such dates as may be fixed," the bench said, disregarding strong objections by West Bengal's counsel A M Singhvi who accused the CBI of working to promote BJP's political plans for West Bengal.
The distance between Kolkata and Shillong is more than 1,100 km and the flight time is one and a half hours.
Further, in what could spell more trouble for the Bengal government and the state police, the SC issued notices to chief secretary Malay De, DGP Virender and Rajeev Kumar on a petition filed by the CBI seeking initiation of contempt of court proceedings against them for violating three orders of the apex court since the probe was transferred to the central agency on May 9, 2014.
The order was welcomed by both West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and the BJP. "We are so grateful and obliged to the Supreme Court. It will strengthen the morale of our officials," Banerjee said in Kolkata. She later called off her sit-in.
Union minister Smriti Irani viewed the SC order differently, calling it a tight slap on West Bengal government's face which had put an end to "Mamata Banerjee's political histrionics".
The SC passed the order after the CBI levelled allegations of conniving with accused persons, destroying and destruction of crucial material evidence against Rajeev Kumar, whom Banerjee has described as "one of the best officers in the world".