Trinamool MLA's Arrest In Bengal Jobs Scam "Not Illegal": Supreme Court
NDTV
The top court refused to accept Manik Bhattacharya's argument that his arrest was illegal because of an interim order granting him protection in the CBI case, registered in the same matter.
The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed TMC MLA Manik Bhattacharya's plea against his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with alleged irregularities in the recruitment of primary school teachers in West Bengal, observing the ED's action was not illegal.
The top court refused to accept Manik Bhattacharya's argument that his arrest was illegal because of an interim order granting him protection in the CBI case, registered in the same matter.
A bench of justices Aniruddha Bose and Vikram Nath noted the ED's submission about the seizure of various incriminating documents during the search at the lawmaker's premises.
"We cannot hold the arrest of the petitioner by the Enforcement Directorate illegal as the issue of money laundering or there being proceeds of crime had not surfaced before the Single Judge or the Division Bench of the High Court. "Before us, however, it had been brought to our notice in the course of hearing on the question of the interim order passed in the instant special leave petitions that the petitioner had been cooperating with the investigation by the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI," the bench said.
