Calcutta HC forms three-member panel in sting case

The Calcutta High Court on Monday constituted a three-member committee to collect videotape footage of a sting operation in which several leaders of West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress were allegedly shown taking bribes.

The committee comprising an inspector general of police-ranked officer of the state police and one official each of the Central Bureau of Investigation and the high court will collect the raw footages of the sting along with the recording devices from Narada News chief Mathew Samuel in Delhi.

A bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice A. Banerjee said the committee will decide the time and venue for the handing over of the tapes by Samuel, which in turn will be handed over to the court.

The court earlier directed Samuel to personally hand over the material to the court but the journalist had pleaded his inability to do so, claiming threat to his life.

The high court was hearing three public interest litigations seeking CBI probe as well as criminal action against the leaders allegedly caught on tape.

The Trinamool Congress claimed the tapes are "doctored" and has been opposing the CBI probe, contending the sting was a conspiracy hatched by its political opponents.

The portal released in March a set a videos wherein several Trinamool leaders, including MPs, MLAs and former union ministers, were allegedly seen accepting bribes from journalists posing as businessmen.