In Calcutta HC, Judge questions CID summons to fellow Judge’s spouse

The Supreme Court had last month directed the CID to continue its investigation, without succumbing to any pressure, in connection with the case filed by the women. The apex court had also directed the West Bengal government to file a status report on the probe in a sealed cover on the next date of hearing in December.

Dey, who is an advocate, has been summoned twice by the CID this month, and was questioned for nine hours on Saturday. According to sources in the CID, he was also asked to surrender his mobile phone last Monday.

Dey’s wife, Justice Amrita Sinha of the Calcutta HC, is hearing cases related to the West Bengal school jobs scam including ones that involve Trinamool Congress (TMC) general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.

Dey has alleged that the CID harassed him, and a section of advocates have protested the CID’s action. One such advocate, Nilanjan Bhattacharya, said, “When Justice Sinha is giving many important orders in many corruption cases, the CID’s interrogation and harassment of Dey naturally raises questions on the whole matter.”

The CID has denied the allegations.

The case against Dey, filed by the two women, alleged that he misused his position as the spouse of a sitting High Court judge and interfered in the investigation of two criminal cases related to ancestral property involving the women and their relatives. According to the CID, Dey was an advocate of the women’s opposing side in the ancestral property cases.

Hearing the women’s case, a Supreme Court Division Bench, comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and S V Bhatti, directed the CID to investigate the matter without succumbing to any pressure, and to inform it if there was any interference.

In a statement released earlier this week, the CID said, “Smt Bani Roy Chowdhury, complainant of Bidhannagar South PS case No 238/23 dated 07/09/2023, had approached the Hon’ble Supreme Court vide Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 482/2023 on account of the inaction on part of the police on a property dispute between the complainant and her elder brother, one Shri Utpal Majumdar, and the consequential undue influence exerted on police by Shri Pratap Chandra Dey, who is stated to be the advocate representing the elder brother of the complainant and his family.”

The CID statement also said that Dey “used his influence as a spouse of a sitting judge of the Hon’ble High Court to favour Shri Utpal Majumdar”.

It said that the Supreme Court had directed the CID to “continue the investigation in the matter in accordance with law, uninfluenced by any external factors that were brought to the notice of the Hon’ble court”. The CID said it was carrying out the investigation in accordance with the Supreme Court’s order.

Regarding the summons to Dey, the CID statement said, “Shri Pratap Chandra Dey was summoned twice by the CID…on 01/12/2023 and on 16/12/2023. On both occasions, Shri Dey failed to report on the stated time and even when he arrived belatedly without any intimation of the said delay, he made attempts to not submit to the examination on one pretext or another. The examination on both the dates was carried out by a team of officers and the entire process was audio-video recorded as per law.”

Regarding the allegations against the CID’s actions, the agency said, “The intention behind such allegations is not only to malign the reputation of the officers concerned but also to question the ongoing investigation and divert the issue.”

Dey, however, has said that he was called by the Economic Offences Wing of the CID on December 1, 2023, and that when he reached there, he was “treated like a criminal, as if I was accused of some heinous crime”.

“I was interrogated by more than one officer and only questions were asked about my wife and her personal details,” Dey said.

He has reached out to President Draupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding the issue, and has written to the Kolkata Bar Association, West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal.

In his letter to the Kolkata Bar Association, Dey said the CID harassed him only because his wife was hearing corruption cases.

“They (CID officials) put tremendous pressure on me to testify against my wife. As soon as I refused to give any statement against them, the atrocities increased manifold. During that time, all irrelevant questions were asked with the intention of breaking me under pressure,” he said.

He also alleged in the letter that he was offered bribes, and when that did not work, he was threatened.