Sandeshkhali : Supreme Court dismisses West Bengal’s plea against Calcutta HC order transferring ED team attack case to CBI

New Delhi, March 11

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed the West Bengal Government’s petition challenging the Calcutta High Court’s order transferring the probe into the January 5 attack on an Enforcement Directorate (ED) team in Sandeshkhali to the CBI.

The attack on the ED team was allegedly made by supporters of the now-suspended TMC strongman Shahjahan Sheikh on January 5.

A Bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice Sandeep Mehta, however, expunged certain adverse remarks against the state government and the police in the March 5 High Court order after Additional Solicitor General SV Raju submitted that he had no objection to expunction of the remarks if the final order transferring the probe to the CBI was not disturbed.

If the investigation was not handed over to the CBI, the probe by the state police will be a farce, Raju told the Bench.

The Bench sought to know from senior advocate Jaideep Gupta, representing the West Bengal Police, as to why suspended TMC leader Shahjahan Sheikh was not promptly arrested after the January 5 attack and questioned the delay in the investigation.

”Why was he (Sheikh) not arrested for 50 days?” the Bench asked Gupta, who said there was a stay on the investigation at that time and the state government had to move the High Court for clarification.

“After the clarification of the order of the High Court, he (Sheikh) was arrested in 24 hours. Even earlier also, after the January 5 attack, when the police had registered an FIR in the case, seven people were arrested,” Gupta said, adding that to say there was a delay in investigation was “utterly incorrect”.

Referring to the High Court order, the Bench said 42 FIRs were lodged against Sheikh and sought to know why they were registered.

As Gupta said all these FIRs did not relate to the incident of attack. He said these were registered over a period of time and involved Sheikh and some others, the Bench asked, “So, why weren’t charge sheets filed? How long does it take?”

”They tried to water down the case insofar as the assault of the ED officers was concerned. Three ED officers were injured. Section 307 of IPC (attempt to murder) was made out but they filed some other case and that’s why the investigation was stayed by the court. It was only after the high court asked that the Advocate General agreed to add section 307 of IPC,” Raju alleged.

The West Bengal Government had on March 6 moved the top court seeking urgent listing of its petition against the High Court order, terming it as perverse, illegal, and arbitrary which deserved to be set aside.