New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday asked the West Bengal government to produce records pertaining to the interrogation of Sumit Roy, the personal assistant to Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee, after he alleged that the investigators barely questioned him about the alleged land-grabbing offence.
Additionally, the top court extended Roy’s protection from arrest until the next hearing, scheduled for September 7.
A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana was hearing Roy’s appeal, challenging the August 6 order of the Calcutta High Court denying him pre-arrest bail in the Salboni land-grabbing case. On August 6, it had stayed Roy’s arrest in connection with this matter.
During the hearing on Monday, senior advocate Gopal Shankarnarayanan, appearing for Roy, said that the entire interrogation had been videographed and that his client had answered all questions put to him.
Correcting an earlier submission that Roy had exercised his right to remain silent, the senior lawyer said an additional affidavit filed before the bench showed that Roy had not invoked the right against self-incrimination and had cooperated fully with the investigation.
He alleged, however, that investigators had largely questioned Roy about his family and the functioning, recruitment and funding of the Trinamool Congress rather than the offence for which he was being investigated.
“The entire thing has been videographed,” he said, adding that Roy was questioned for eight to nine hours a day and was called in alternately for different FIRs.
“The allegation against me is one transaction of Rs 10 lakh,” Shankarnarayanan said, referring to the allegations against Roy, while adding that the investigating agency was treating the matter as part of a larger alleged scam involving the conversion of government or vested land into private land.
He told the bench that despite 11 days of questioning, not a single question had been put to Roy about the specific transaction allegedly linking him to the offence.
“Instead of asking me about this offence, they have asked me entirely about my family. Then they have asked me about the political party, how it recruits people, where it gets its funding from,” he said.
