The Calcutta High Court today directed the CBI to continue with its probe into the Narada sting operation case and asked Trinamool Congress MP Aparupa Poddar, an accused, to cooperate with the investigators.
Justice Joymalyo Bagchi's direction came while hearing Poddar's prayer for dismissal of an FIR against her.
Poddar's counsel Siddharth Luthra submitted before the court that she was not an MP during the alleged video shoot and as such provisions under the Prevention of Corruption Act was not applicable against her.
It was submitted that the video was claimed to have been shot in April, 2014, while the results of the 16th Lok Sabha elections were declared in May, 2014. Poddar is a first time Lok Sabha MP from Arambagh constituency in West Bengal.
Justice Bagchi directed the CBI to produce relevant records regarding the case on the next date of hearing, May 10.
In the sting operation, which was claimed to have been done in 2014, some persons resembling senior TMC leaders are seen accepting money from representatives of a fictitious company in return for favours.
The high court had ordered the CBI to conduct a preliminary inquiry into the matter. The order was challenged by the West Bengal government in the Supreme Court, which refused to grant relief on March 17 and gave the CBI one month to conclude the preliminary probe and file an FIR, if required.
The CBI has booked 12 top TMC leaders, including MPs and ministers, and an IPS officer in connection with the sting case.
FIR has been registered for alleged criminal conspiracy under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act dealing with bribery and criminal misconduct.
The maximum sentence for these crimes ranges from five to seven years of imprisonment.
The TMC leaders against whom the CBI has registered the FIR include Rajya Sabha MP Mukul Roy and Lok Sabha MPs Saugata Roy, Poddar, Sultan Ahmed, Prasun Banerjee and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar.
West Bengal ministers, including Urban Development minister Firhad Hakim, Transport minister Suvendu Adhikari, Environment minister Sovan Chatterjee, and Panchayati Raj and Rural Development minister Subrata Mukherjee, have also been named in the FIR.
Former state minister Madan Mitra, MLA Iqbal Ahmed and IPS officer Saiyaad Mustafa Hussain Mirza have also been made accused in the case.
The sting was done by the editor of portal Naradanews.Com, Mathew Samuel, who claimed to have used an iPhone for the purpose. The contents had then been transferred to a laptop and stored in a pen drive.
The Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory (CFSL), Chandigarh, had, on a direction of the Calcutta High Court, checked the video clips and had reported that there was no tampering or editing.
The CFSL had stated in its report that it could open 47 files out of 73 movie files provided in the pen drive.
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