The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday ordered the transfer of the probe into an attack on Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials at Sandeshkhali on January 5 from the West Bengal Police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). A Division Bench of T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya also directed that the custody of suspended Trinamool Congress leader Sheikh Shahjahan shall also forthwith be handed over to the CBI, and that order shall be implemented by 4.30 p.m. on Tuesday. The West Bengal Police, however, did not hand over Sheikh Shahjahan to the CBI as directed by the Calcutta High Court order. A team of officials of the CBI visited Bhawani Bhawan, the headquarters of West Bengal Police where the accused has been lodged, but they had to return empty-handed.
In an oral mention before Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, the West Bengal government urged for an early hearing of its appeal against the High Court order to hand over the case to the central agency. The CJI asked the State government, represented by senior advocate A.M. Singhvi, to approach the Supreme Court Registrar concerned with the listing of cases.
Sheikh Shahjahan was arrested by the West Bengal Police on February 29 after villagers, particularly women in Sandeshkhali, held protests for days demanding his arrest. The allegations of sexual assault and land grab by Sheikh Shahjahan and his aides had triggered an outrage in the political circles.
