The Supreme Court has given interim relief to Sumit Roy, a close aide of Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee. The Apex Court on Thursday ordered that the arrest be suspended for now and that he should cooperate with the investigation in full.
A three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V. Mohan gave the order. The court stated that the temporary relief barring arrest would be in effect until the next hearing. It also attached a condition that Sumit Roy has to appear before the investigating officers on a daily basis from 10 am to 6 pm and cooperate with the police.
What happened in the Supreme Court?
Senior advocate Gopal Shankar Narayan appeared for Sumit Roy, while Solicitor General Tushar Mehta represented the West Bengal government.
During the hearing, Justice Joymalya Bagchi sought clarification on the allegations against Roy and asked, “What charges were filed against Sumit Roy?” per the court transcription.
Responding on behalf of his client, Gopal Shankar Narayan said, “Cash for job scam. If my client is given protection, he will cooperate in the investigation.”
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta requested the court to postpone the hearing by a day, stating that he had not yet had sufficient time to examine all the case papers.
He submitted that the matter should be taken up on Friday after he had reviewed the documents.
Objecting to the request, Sumit Roy’s counsel remarked, “The incident happened in 2021. The FIR was filed in July 2026. Do we have to appeal to the Solicitor General for a minor PA matter?”
“I will give all the answers. Just give the court one day to see the papers,” Mehta assured the Bench.
Tushar Mehta told the Bench, “When the accused was going to be arrested, the former Chief Minister again obstructed us. He has done the same thing before.”
Justice Bagchi then asked, “Is this the tip of the iceberg?”
Mehta replied, “Of course. Let us have a chance to speak. He is influential.”
Following the submissions, the Supreme Court granted Roy interim protection from arrest while directing him to remain available for questioning.
What are the allegations against Sumit Roy?
Sumit is facing multiple criminal cases registered in different parts of West Bengal.
One of the key allegations relates to the Shalbani land case in West Midnapore, where he has been accused of involvement in the alleged illegal sale of government land.
Another case has been registered at Debra Police Station, where allegations have been made regarding a purported cash-for-jobs scam.
Sumit also faces an extortion case registered at Bishnupur Police Station in South 24 Parganas.
The complaint noted that a resort owner accused Roy of pressuring him to vacate and lock up his property during Roy’s stay. Investigators have already conducted raids at Roy’s residence in connection with that case.
Why did he approach the Supreme Court?
Following the registration of the Shalbani case, Sumit reportedly remained untraceable, leading investigators to obtain an arrest warrant against him.
He subsequently moved the Calcutta High Court seeking anticipatory bail.
While the High Court granted him anticipatory bail in connection with the Debra case, it declined similar relief in the Shalbani land case. Following this, he approached the Supreme Court seeking protection from arrest.