The Supreme Court on Friday continued its interim protection from arrest for Sumit Roy, personal aide to Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee, in a case concerning alleged illegal occupation and sale of government land in West Bengal.
The court made it clear that Roy must cooperate with the investigation. The matter is likely to come up for further hearing next Wednesday before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohan.
The protection comes after Roy challenged an earlier Calcutta High Court order refusing him anticipatory bail in the land-related case. While he had received protection in a separate recruitment scam case, the High Court had declined similar relief in the land case.
Roy subsequently approached the Supreme Court, which granted him interim protection and allowed investigators to question him between 10 am and 6 pm.
Roy questioned by CID
Following the Supreme Court's direction, Roy appeared before the CID at Bhabani Bhavan and has been questioned by investigators since Saturday.
During Friday's hearing, Roy's lawyer told the Supreme Court that his client was cooperating with the investigation.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, however, said the investigating agency would need to verify whether Roy was indeed cooperating.
“I will seek a report from the concerned agency,” Mehta told the court.
After hearing the submissions, the bench decided to continue Roy's interim protection. This means he cannot be arrested for the time being, subject to his continued cooperation with the investigation.
The case relates to allegations of illegal occupation and sale of government land in Salboni, West Midnapore, allegedly using forged documents.
According to the allegations, government land was allegedly sold in exchange for money and forged documents were prepared with Roy's consent. His lawyer has disputed the allegations, claiming that the FIR was politically motivated and was registered in June 2026 in connection with an incident dating back to 2021.
The police had earlier launched a search for Roy and even raided Abhishek Banerjee's residence in Kalighat during the night. Investigators reportedly broke open the lock while searching the premises, but Roy was not found there.
With the Supreme Court's protection in place, Roy has now appeared before the CID and is continuing to face questioning as the investigation proceeds.
