INTRODUCTION
The case comes from a disagreement that arose before the assembly elections of the year 2016, when the News portal of Narada produced a sequence of recordings purported to reveal numerous highly ranked TMC politicians receiving money in exchange for favors to a bogus firm.[i]
THE STORY BEHIND THE NARADA CASE
Mathew Samuel, the creator of Narada news, ran a sting operation in West Bengal for almost two years. It was conducted back in the year 2014 for the news magazine named ‘Tehelka’ and printed months prior to the West Bengal Assembly elections of 2016 on a private news website called Narada News. Samuel was ‘Tehelka's’ former managing editor.
Samuel created a fictional company called Impex Consultancy Solutions and contacted numerous ministers, MPs, and leaders of TMC, requesting support in exchange for money as part of the operation. [ii].[iii]
Various TMC MPs, namely, Mukul Roy, Sougata Roy, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Prasun Bannerjee, Suvendu Adhikari, Aparupa Poddar, and Sultan Ahmad (who expired in 2017) were shown collecting alleged money on the 52-hour video collected by Samuel and his colleague Angel Abraham.
State ministers Madan Mitra, Subrata Mukherjee, Firhad Hakim, and Iqbal Ahmed were also captured receiving payment in the form of wads in trade for extending unofficial services for Samuel's Impex Consultancy Solutions.
HMS Mirza, an IPS officer who has now been suspended, was also caught collecting money from Samuel. Shanku Deb Panda, the TMC's head, was also seen requesting shares in Samuel's fictional company in exchange for promised favors.[iv]
Although Mukul Roy (who is now the national vice-president of the BJP) was not seen accepting cash in the video but he was seen asking Samuel to visit his party office with the promised cash. Suvendu Adhikari is now a BJP leader and the state Assembly's Leader of the Opposition. Sovan Chatterjee joined the BJP in 2019 but left after being denied a ticket for the Assembly elections this year. Panda is presently a member of the BJP.
SERIES OF INCIDENTS
Samuel was charged under numerous IPC sections, including 469 (forgery to destroy reputation), 500 (defamation), 120(B) (criminal conspiracy), and others. On the 5th of August, 2016, the Calcutta High Court issued an ad infinitum stay of the state inquiry, stating that the police department cannot conduct a parallel investigation while a court-monitored investigation is ongoing.
·The Calcutta high court directed the CBI to conduct a preliminary investigation on March 17, 2017. If necessary, the court further ordered the CBI to file a FIR against those engaged in the case.
The state began disciplinary proceedings against SMH Mirza on March 18, 2017.
On April 16, 2017, A First Information Report was issued by the CBI, charging twelve leaders of Trinamool party of "criminal conspiracy." The CBI then summoned all of the major participants to help in the probe. The Indian Penal Code's Section 120 B (criminal conspiracy), the Prevention of Corruption Act's Sections 13 (2) and 13 (1D), and the Prevention of Corruption Act's Section 7 were all utilized to prosecute them.
A parallel inquiry is being conducted by the Enforcement Directorate. It has filed a lawsuit under the Anti-Corruption Act alleging theft of funds of the public and has issued many summonses to the one accused and Samuel himself.
· Since members of Parliament were involved in the sting operation, an ethics committee of the Lok Sabha was formed to investigate if the individuals involved violated the house's privileges. After the incident, the committee only met once.
The four leaders were detained on May 17 by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as part of its investigation into the Narada sting tape case.[v]
The Calcutta high court granted provisional release to all four West Bengal leaders held in the Narada sting operation. According to the high court's judgement, former mayor Sovan Chatterjee, ministers Subrata Mukherjee and Firhad Hakim, and party MLA Madan Mitra, an ex-TMC leader, are currently under house arrest.
A five-judge jury of the high court-imposed conditions, ordering the four incriminated to post bail bonds of Rs 2 lakh apiece.
·Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and justices I P Mukerji, Harish Tandon, Soumen Sen, and Arijit Banerjee make up the five-judge panel.
ENDNOTES
[i] https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/politics/explained-narada-sting-operation-case-involving-tmc-leaders-everything-you-need-to-know-6902391.html
[iii] https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/all-four-tmc-leaders-accused-in-narada-sting-operation-case-get-interim-bail-101622186444755.html
[iv] https://thewire.in/government/cbi-arrests-west-bengal-ministers-tmc-mla-narada-sting-case
[v] https://thefederal.com/explainers-2/explained-whats-the-narada-sting-operation-and-bribery-case-all-about/