SC quashes Kolkata ex-top cop Rajeev Kumar’s plea for extension of protection

Fernandes contended that the courts were not sitting on account of the lawyers’ strike. The bench corrected him: “You are wrong. The courts are sitting there… Your client is a former commissioner of police and he knows the law better than many young lawyers.”

The bench also took exception to Kumar approaching it with the petition even after his prayer had already been dealt with by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi. “You have already moved an application for extension of protection before the CJI. Do you want harsh comment from us? It is not proper for you to file the petition and then request for urgent listing when the CJI had already declined urgent listing of your applications. Don’t misuse our generosity like this,” the bench said.

When Fernandes submitted that the protection granted to Kumar would end today, the court added “what can be done? Do we have the jurisdiction to hear this? Your problem may be anything but your petition under Article 32 is not maintainable.”

Hearing a plea by the CBI, seeking his custodial interrogation, a bench headed by the CJI had on May 17 withdrawn its earlier order of February 6 granting Kumar protection from arrest. It, however, allowed the protection to continue for seven more days from May 17 so as to enable him to approach the competent court for relief.

Hours after the Supreme Court declined to entertain Kumar’s plea, a court in West Bengal cancelled the anticipatory bail plea by the former police commissioner on the ground of “faulty application”.

“Around 4 pm the court turned down Kumar’s anticipatory bail plea which was faulty, and some documents were missing. He had filed it late and without any proper affidavit, so the court cancelled the defective application and he has been asked to file a fresh plea. For now the application stands cancelled,” public prosecutor Sushovan Mitra told reporters outside Barasat court.

The Election Commission had ordered removal of Kumar, who was posted as Additional Director General, CID, in West Bengal for allegedly failing to control incidents of violence in the state and had asked him to report to the Union Home Ministry.

— With inputs from ENS Kolkata