How come both sides are claiming victory?
Mamata’s statements were made on the dharna dais on Tuesday after the Supreme Court issued the directives. The BJP’s version was collated from news conferences of Union ministers Smriti Irani and Ravi Shankar Prasad in New Delhi, besides interactions with multiple state unit leaders, including national secretary Rahul Sinha and Bengal general secretary Sayantan Basu.
Court: The Calcutta police commissioner has to “faithfully cooperate” with the CBI.
Mamata: He was always willing to cooperate. We never said we will not cooperate. Our fight was against the political vendetta that resulted in this abuse of the agency.
BJP: Egg on Mamata’s face as she was trying to shield Kumar from having to cooperate with the CBI.
SC: No “coercive steps, including arrest”, can be taken against the police commissioner.
Mamata: We are grateful. We welcome the Supreme Court verdict. This is what we wanted.
BJP: It shows nobody, including the police commissioner, is above the law.
SC: Kumar should appear before the CBI in Shillong.
Mamata: Shillong is a beautiful place. We welcome it. Kumar doesn’t get any break, he will get two days to relax there. This is the court upholding our stand. Kumar had written five letters to the CBI seeking meetings and discussions in a neutral venue.
BJP: This is the court’s recognition of the total lawlessness in Bengal.
Additional reporting by R. Balaji in New Delhi
Why Didi won this round
- The court order was welcomed by both sides, which raised the question why the CBI did not approach the court in the first place instead of forcing a showdown on Sunday afternoon outside the police commissioner’s home.
- The sense of urgency that the central agency sought to whip up also stands deflated because the court did not order any immediate action. In fact, the next hearing is scheduled for only on February 20.
- The possibility of destruction of evidence was cited by the CBI to seek an immediate hearing but it could not back up the innuendo on Monday. The court had said it would act decisively if there was even a whiff of tampering with evidence.
On Tuesday, central sources claimed that material evidence had been given to the court in “a sealed cover” — an enigmatic instrument that has become popular since the Rafale deal and the CBI mess hit the headlines. It is not clear whether the court went through the contents of the sealed cover. Since the court did not order any immediate and drastic action, the court did not either feel compelled enough to go through the purported evidence immediately or it wants more time to assess the evidentiary value. Either way, it again brings under stress the CBI’s urgency theory.
- The biggest gain for Mamata is that she has positioned herself as a national trendsetter who struck back with ferocity when the Narendra Modi government tried to browbeat her with an oft-misused bogey called the CBI. On Tuesday evening, Akhilesh Yadav issued a clarion call to stand up to such tactics.
The Mamata manch at Metro Channel became a magnet of sorts for leaders from across the country — some of whom turned up in person —who expressed solidarity with her. The dharna was called off in the evening. In order to keep up the momentum of the movement against the Modi government, Mamata is planning to take the protest to Delhi later this month.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued the following directives on a petition linked to the standoff between the CBI and the Bengal government:
- Calcutta police commissioner Rajeev Kumar should appear before the CBI and fully cooperate with the investigative agency at all times.
- No coercive steps, including arrest, shall be taken against the commissioner.
- In order to avoid all unnecessary controversy, the police commissioner should appear before the CBI in Shillong, Meghalaya, on such date(s) as may be fixed.
- The Bengal chief secretary, the director-general of police and the Calcutta commissioner of police should file replies on or before February 18 to the contempt petition against them.
- On the basis of the replies, the officers will be informed on February 19 whether their presence is required in the court on February 20.
The Union home ministry on Tuesday recommended to the Bengal government departmental proceedings against Kumar for allegedly sitting on the dharna with the chief minister on Sunday night. Mamata dismissed the charge, saying: “He never sat on the dais or joined the dharna. He was doing his duty as I was here, running the government from here. Not the dharna manch, but the police outpost down there….”