HC query to CBI on Samuel statement

TT, Calcutta June 6: The high court today asked the CBI why it had not yet recorded before a magistrate the statement of Mathew Samuel in the Narada sting case.

Samuel, the CEO of Narada, had allegedly conducted a sting operation in which persons resembling senior Trinamul leaders were seen accepting money from the representative of a fictitious company.

"Unless the statement of Samuel is registered under Section 164 of the CrPC (statement before a magistrate), how could the CBI ascertain that the sting operation was conducted by him? It would also have to ascertain whether Samuel had offered money to the leaders or the leaders had collected it," asked Justice Joymalya Bagchi.

The court asked the CBI to inform the court on the issue on June 20 when the matter would come up for hearing again.

Justice Bagchi was hearing a petition moved by Aparupa Poddar, the Trinamul MP from Arambagh in Hooghly and an accused in the Narada case. She was seeking an order directing the CBI to quash the proceedings against her.

The judge asked the CBI counsel, Ashraf Ali, how far officers of the investigating agency had progressed with their probe into the Narada case.

"What is the progress of CBI investigation into the Narada case? Why the investigators did not undertake statement of Mathew Samuel yet under Section 164?" the judge asked.