Sting operation: Congress, BJP move court for CBI probe

The Congress and the BJP's West Bengal units on Wednesday moved the Calcutta High Court with two different petitions seeking a CBI probe into the bribery scandal in which top-notch leaders of the Trinamool Congress are alleged to be involved.

"We today moved a public interest litigation before the bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur seeking a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation. The matter is expected to come up for hearing on Friday," said state Congress general secretary Amitava Chakraborty, who filed the petition.

A similar petition seeking a probe by the CBI as well as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against the Trinamool leaders was filed by BJP leader Brajesh Jha. The hearing in the matter is also likely to be on Friday.

A sting operation carried out by Narada News and uploaded on its website allegedly showed as many as 11 Trinamool leaders, including former union ministers, state ministers and MPs, accepting bribes in return for favours to a fictitious company.

The Trinamool has rubbished the allegations made in the sting operation and threatened legal action against the news portal claiming the videos were "doctored".

The petitions before the court came on a day when Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan referred the matter related to the sting operation to the Ethics Committee for investigation.