Trinamul Congress’s Rajya Sabha member Sukhendu Sekhar Ray moved an anticipatory bail plea before Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj of Calcutta High Court on Monday, as he is apprehending arrest following Lalbazar summons to him for questioning, twice on Sunday.
The Ray episode has been salt to the wound for the rattled ruling dispensation, amid scenes of undying protests in the wake of the RG Kar tragedy.
The plea by the senior advocate, with 44 years of practice at the high court, is likely to come up for hearing on Tuesday.
Asked if he was genuinely apprehending arrest by the ruling dispensation he is still an integral part of, Ray said the matter was now sub judice. However, reiterating the sequence of events since his 12.19am X post on Sunday, Ray suggested he felt he might be victimised by the authorities.
“As an ordinary citizen, when one feels they might be a victim of powerful authorities… with prosecutors becoming judges, and all the inconsistencies, intentional or otherwise… what recourse will the citizen go for? Naturally, they will move the court,” the MP, who is also the editor of Trinamool’s Bengali daily mouthpiece Jago Bangla, told this newspaper.
In that X post, he had demanded custodial interrogation of Kolkata Police commissioner Vineet Goyal and the now-removed RG Kar principal Sandip Ghosh by the CBI. Around 1pm and 5pm on Sunday, he was issued summonses for questioning by the cyber crime cell at Lalbazar, in relation to a case lodged on Saturday.
Both times, the three-term MP had asked for a reasonable time, citing medical advice from AIIMS, New Delhi, and SSKM Hospital, Calcutta, with details of treatment he underwent there since last month. Ray has been suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease coupled with a recent attack of bronchitis; he also has a pacemaker installed.
Since the post and his defiance thereafter, Ray has been lauded by the state’s Opposition, including the BJP, the CPM, and the Congress.
“If I get bitten by a mad dog, will I bite back? Those making such speculation, I will not stoop to their level,” said Ray when asked to respond to speculation — within Trinamool and outside — on his political future and alternative considerations, as he has chosen this path of inevitable conflict with the supreme leadership.
“A person can continue to stay in his own home and carry out cleaning, taking out the garbage, or rectification of others at their home… or undertake repairs and renovation. If people choose to interpret in another way, it is their freedom of expression,” he added. “The so-called inevitable confrontation in this path is your perception.”
Since the X post he was summoned for, Ray posted a YouTube clip of a Rabindranath Tagore song — Ami Bhoy Korbo Na (I will not fear) — and a statement throwing his weight behind the supporters of Mohun Bagan, East Bengal, and Mohammedan Sporting, who on Sunday braved a police crackdown and protested for hours demanding justice.
“I appeal to all football and sports lovers to protest unitedly against the arbitrary arrests of supporters of Mohunbagan and East Bengal in a peaceful and democratic manner. Jai Mohunbagan! Jai East Bengal!” wrote Ray on X.
Asked if Mamata or her nephew Abhishek Banerjee reached out to him yet, Ray said: “On this party-related matter, I will not say anything now.”
On Monday, he did go on to praise Mamata for her role since the grisly crime
came to light.
“The chief minister, from Day One, was standing by the family of the deceased. Not only that, she said whosoever is behind this heinous crime, all of them will be brought to book and she demands capital punishment,” said Ray.
“She visited their home and said that if Kolkata Police failed to complete the investigation and bring all the culprits to book by Sunday, she would hand over the investigation to the CBI,” he added.
