CBI, ED officers summoned by West Bengal speaker on September 22

West Bengal Speaker Biman Bandyopadhyay Monday said he has summoned senior CBI and Enforcement Directorate officers on September 22 to explain why no permission had been taken from the speaker’s office before submitting charge sheets against legislators of the state in recent times.

Bandopadhyay said the speaker’s office was not kept in the loop and no permission was taken from it while initiating action against the elected representatives.

Several legislators of the ruling Trinamool Congress, including ministers, had been charge sheeted and have been summoned in recent times by the two central probe agencies for their alleged involvement in ponzi scam cases and the Narada sting footage case.

Bandyopadhyay told PTI “I have sought an explanation from CBI and ED why the speaker’s office is not being informed while framing charge sheets against MLAs and summoning them. A letter has been sent to the city offices of the two central agencies.

“In the letter I have asked the ED and CBI officers to come to the assembly on September 22 and give an explanation as to why the speaker’s office was not provided any prior information and why action was taken without seeking any permission from me,” he said.

TMC leaders like Sukhendu Sekhar Roy and Kunal Ghosh had maintained that the investigating agencies always inform the speaker of the Lok Sabha for any such action (charge sheet) against MPs but the practice is not followed concerning MLAs in Bengal.

It is the norm to intimate the head of the house concerned before its member – MP, MLA or MLC is arrested, detained or convicted.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Dear Reader,

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

We, however, have a request.

As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.

Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.

Digital Editor