New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday (July 8) dismissed a plea by the West Bengal government against the direction for CBI inquiry into the violence in Sandeshkhali.
While dismissing the plea, the bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan lamented that the state “did not do anything for months”, and once again posed an earlier question, “why the state should be interested in protecting someone”, reported LiveLaw.
Appearing on behalf of the West Bengal government, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi argued that the impugned directions of the Calcutta High Court sought to cover not only the incidents of sexual assault and land grabbing but also other incidents, such as an alleged ration scam for which 43 FIRs were registered (the first FIR about 4 years ago).
“Far reaching directions to CBI at the most could be restricted to two FIRs, which related to ED officials. Now the impugned directions cover everything (like ration scam)”, Singhvi submitted, reported LiveLaw.
However, the bench said that all FIRs pertained to Sandeshkhali and as such, the impugned order was not an omnibus order. Thereafter, it dismissed the plea.
Sheikh Shahjahan was a key accused in Rs 10,000 crore PDS scam in Bengal. A close associate of arrested TMC minister Jyotipriya Mallick, he came into the spotlight earlier this year when the ED officials faced a mob attack during a raid on his residence in Sandeshkhali in North 24 Paragans.
The incident sparked a series of legal manoeuvres. The state police filed a case initially, followed by a complaint from the ED. Interestingly, Sheikh’s caretaker also lodged a counter-complaint against the ED officials.
A large number of women in Sandeshkhali had accused Trinamool Congress strongman Sheikh and his supporters of “land-grab and sexual assault” under coercion.
Following the Calcutta high court’s intervention, he was arrested on February 29 by the state police which the opposition party termed as staged.
