At a time when the Trinamool Congress government and its leaders are defending allegations of corruption before the Calcutta High Court, the husband of a sitting High Court judge has alleged torture by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the West Bengal Police.
Pratap Chandra Dey, husband of Justice Amrita Sinha, was summoned for questioning by the CID earlier this week and his allegations have triggered a political row. Justice Sinha is hearing a number of cases including those related to the State recruitment scam and allegations against Trinamool leader Abhishek Banerjee.
“I was treated like a criminal, accused of some heinous crime. I was questioned by more than one officer and questions were asked only about my wife... The officers told me that they were not interested in the case details, but wanted answers in respect of my wife. The video [camera] was switched on and off as per their desire and convenience. The torture and harassment went on for three and half hours. I was permitted to leave at about 3.30 p.m.,” Mr. Dey, a lawyer, wrote in a letter addressed to the president, Metropolitan Magistrate Court Bar Association.
The letter by the advocate added that that a notice under Section 160 of the CrPC was issued directing him to appear in the office of the Economic Offences Wing, CID, West Bengal.
The CID has denied all the allegations and said they are aimed at diverting attention from the issue at hand. “CID denies all the allegations mentioned in the said representation as concocted, baseless, and false and [they] appear not only to malign the reputation of the concerned officials but to cast aspersions on the ongoing investigation and to conveniently deviate from the issue at hand,” a press statement by the CID said.
The CID statement also said that Mr. Dey “used his influence as a spouse of a sitting judge of the Hon’ble High Court to favour Shri Utpal Majumdar”.
The CID statement added “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.”
On Friday, Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay of the Calcutta High Court had raised the issue of CID summons to the Justice Sinha’s husband.
“Is it such an important case? CID is not doing proper investigation in many important cases. The Supreme Court has given many instructions to the CID and the State to investigate. Does the CID investigate so actively in all cases?” Justice Gangopadhyay asked Advocate-General Kishore Dutta during the hearing of an unrelated case.
