Calcutta High Court asks West Bengal to hand over ED attack case, Shajahan Sheikh to CBI; says state police ‘totally biased’

Within hours of the High Court acceding to the Enforcement Directorate's request, the West Bengal government moved the Supreme Court challenging the order

ABVP supporters protest against the Sandeshkhali incident in New Delhi on Tuesday. ANI

PTI

Kolkata/New Delhi, March 5

The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday directed that the CBI be handed over the case of attack on ED officials at Sandeshkhali and the custody of suspended TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh, as it slammed West Bengal Police for "totally biased" conduct and said every attempt is being made to delay the probe to "protect" the accused.

Within hours of the HC acceding to the Enforcement Directorate's request, the West Bengal government moved the Supreme Court challenging the order but an apex court bench refused an urgent listing of the plea and asked its counsel to mention the matter before the Registrar General.

The CBI, meanwhile, approached West Bengal Police to take over the investigation into the case. An agency team also reached the CID office in Kolkata with paramilitary forces to take custody of Sheikh.

A team of ED officials was attacked by a nearly 1,000-strong mob on January 5 when they went to raid the house of Sheikh, who allegedly has close links with arrested former state food minister Jyoti Priya Mallick, in connection with the multi-crore ration distribution scam in West Bengal.

"There can be no better case than the case on hand which requires to be transferred to be investigated by the CBI," a high court division bench headed by Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam ruled and directed that the directions be complied with by 4.30 pm on Tuesday.

Both the ED and the West Bengal government had moved separate appeals challenging a single bench's January 17 order to form a joint special investigation team (SIT) of the CBI and the state police to probe the mob attack on the ED officials.

While the ED wanted the probe to be transferred to the CBI only, the state prayed that the investigation be allowed to be done by the state police.

Sheikh, who is also the prime accused in alleged sexual atrocities on women and land grabbing at Sandeshkhali, was arrested by the state police on February 29 in the ED officials attack case.

The ED had contended before the court that the state police purposely arrested Sheikh in the case of the attack on ED officials, even though more than 40 other cases have been pending against him for years, to deny the CBI the custody of Sheikh if the case is handed over to the central agency.

The division bench had earlier stayed a single bench order constituting the SIT and restrained the West Bengal police from proceeding with the investigation in the cases registered by them in connection with the attack on ED officials.

The bench said that despite such an order, the case stood transferred to the state CID and they issued notices to the ED officials.

"Thus, this act of the state police would be sufficient to hold that the state police are totally biased and every attempt is being made to delay the investigation in order to protect the accused who has been absconding for more than 50 days," the bench observed.