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.
Earlier, a Single Bench of Calcutta High Court had on January 17 set up an SIT comprising officials of West Bengal Police and the CBI to probe the attack on ED officials and the Division Bench had stayed the order at the prayer of ED.
“In the result, MAT no. 169 of 2024 and MAT no. 191 of 2024 are allowed, and the order passed by the learned Single Bench constituting the Special Investigating Team is set aside, and the writ petition filed by the Enforcement Directorate in WPA 802 of 2024 is allowed, and cases in FIR No. 8 of 2024 and FIR No. 9 of 2024 on the file of the Nazat Police Station and FIR 18 of 2024 on the file of the Bongaon Police Station shall forthwith be transferred to Central Bureau of Investigation,” the Division Bench said in the order.
The court noted that Sheikh Shahjahan, who was arrested after being on the run for more than 50 days, is not an ordinary citizen, and it has become necessary for doing complete justice and enforcing the fundamental rights of the public that the cases be transferred to the CBI.
“He is an elected representative of the public, holding the highest office in a Zilla Parishad, he was fielded as the candidate at the elections held for the said post by the political party which is ruling dispensation. Thus, it has become imperative and absolutely necessary for doing complete justice and enforcing the fundamental rights of the public in general and the public of the locality that the cases be transferred to the CBI for investigation,” the order said.
The Division Bench also took note of the impugned order of a Single Bench where it has observed that the suo motu FIR – the FIR No. 8 of 2024 – did not contain relevant provisions of the law and presented a rather watered-down version. The ED raid on the residence of Sheikh Shahjahan on January 5 was in connection with the public distribution system. Section 307 IPC (attempt to murder) was added to the case on January 17.
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In another development, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) provisionally attached movable and immovable assets worth ₹12.78 crore under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 in the ongoing investigations against Sheikh Shahjahan and others. “ED investigations under PMLA, 2002 revealed that proceeds of crime acquired by Sheikh Shahjahan by the commission of criminal activities relating to scheduled offences as mentioned in above FIRs are being held, possessed, disguised and concealed by Sheikh Shahjahan in the form of various movable and immovable properties,” a statement by the central investigation agency said.
