Calcutta High Court: A single-judge bench comprising of Tirthankar Ghosh, J. temporarily postponed the date originally set for the delivery of the judgment related to the petition filed by MP Abhishek Banerjee for quashing the criminal case registered against him in relation to Teacher-Recruitment Scam case, given the present circumstances and the conflicting claims regarding the downloaded files and directed the production of printed documents, i.e., comments by Officers from the CFSL (Central Forensic Science Laboratory) in relation to the matter in hand, before the court in a sealed cover according to CFSL guidelines.
In the instant matter, an application was submitted on behalf of the petitioner claiming that during the interim period, a raid was conducted at the office, “Leaps & Bounds,” where the petitioner served as the Chief Executive Officer and, for a limited period, as a Director. The petitioner expressed concerns that 16 files were downloaded during the raid, and these files were related to the ongoing investigation.
The Additional Solicitor General (ASG) appearing for the Enforcement Directorate countered this claim by asserting that the downloaded files were unrelated to the search and seizure operation conducted at the said office. It was explained that one of the officers involved was merely checking hostel accommodation information on the company’s computer, which was not seized during the operation and the use of the computer was done in the presence of a company officer.
The petitioner contended that the computer usage was not authorized by the company’s employees or officers and was conducted without their consent or knowledge.
In light of the circumstances surrounding the downloaded files and the dispute over their relevance to the ongoing investigation, the Court decided to temporarily postpone the scheduled delivery of the judgment.
The Court directed that the Investigating Officer of the Enforcement Directorate, Assistant Director, and one of the Inspectors from the Cyber Police Station in Kolkata, to coordinate and visit the CFSL (Central Forensic Science Laboratory) office in New Town, Kolkata, where the hard disc containing the alleged 16 files was currently located. The Court directed that the hard copies of these files were to be presented to the Court in a manner determined by the CFSL expert. Both the Enforcement Directorate officers and a CFSL representative were required to be present during the handover of the downloaded copies at the CFSL office. The Court ordered the Investigating Officer of the Enforcement Directorate to communicate this decision to CFSL, Kolkata.
On the next date of hearing, 04-09-2023, the Officers from the CFSL (Central Forensic Science Laboratory) have submitted their comments to the court in a sealed envelope. The Court directed the Investigating Officer of the Enforcement Directorate, Assistant Director, and the Inspector, Cyber Police Station, Kolkata, to attend the CFSL Office in Kolkata to coordinate the process of printing out documents according to CFSL guidelines and any disputes among the officers will be resolved by CFSL authorities.
The Enforcement Directorate confirmed that the 16 downloaded files provided by CFSL will not be used as evidence in any criminal proceedings by the Enforcement Directorate or any other agency.
The Court scheduled the case to appear before the court on 06-09-2023, at 4:30 pm and directed that the printed documents are to be produced before the court in a sealed cover on such scheduled date.
[Abhishek Banerjee v. Directorate of Enforcement, C.R.R.2653 of 2023 With CRAN 1 of 2023, order dated 02-09-2023]
[Abhishek Banerjee v. Directorate of Enforcement, C.R.R.2653 of 2023 With CRAN 1 of 2023, order dated 04-09-2023]
*Judgment by Justice Tirthankar Ghosh
Advocates who appeared in this case :
Mr. Kishore Datta Mr. Sanjay Basu Mr. Soumen Mohanty Mr. Ayan Poddar Mr. Piyush Kr. Ray Mr. Agnish Basu Ms. Riddhi Jain. …for the petitioner.
Mr. S.V. Raju, Ld. A.S.G Mr. Phiroze Edulji Mr. Samrat Goswami Mr. Zoheb Hossain Ms. Anamika Pandey Ms. Amrita Pandey Mr. Ghanashyam Pandey. …for the E.D.
Mr. Arindam Jana Mr. Bikram Banerjee Mr. Sudipta Dasgupta Mr. Arka Nandi. …for the affected party (Ramesh Malik).
Mr. Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya Mr. Firdous Samim Ms. Gopa Biswas Ms. Payel Shome Ms. Sampriti Saha. …for the affected party (Soumen Nandy).
Mr. Saswata Gopal Mukherjee, Ld.P.P. Mr. Rudradipta Nandy. …for the State.
