The Bengal government on Friday placed in the Supreme Court a report in a sealed cover on the progress of the investigation in a criminal case filed by a woman in a family property dispute.
The woman, Bani Roy Choudhury, has alleged interference by a judge of
Calcutta High Court and the advocate husband of the judge to shield the accused persons.
The apex court bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice S.V.N. Bhatti, while taking on record the report submitted through state standing counsel Astha Sharma, asked the investigating agency to continue with the probe.
Senior advocate Sunil Fernandes, appearing for the state government, informed the court that a notice under Section 160CrPc seeking the presence of the personal security officer of the judge and her husband for being examined as witnesses had been issued by the probe team. However, the duo are yet to comply with the request, Fernandes told the bench.
Sharma submitted that the state police had asked for CCTV footage of the Calcutta High Court premises where the woman complainant was allegedly intimidated. The request has been declined on grounds of non-availability of the footage, she said.
Justice Khanna, heading the bench, after hearing the submissions and perusing the report, directed the police “to continue with the investigation unfettered, in accordance with law.”
The matter will again come up for hearing in the second week of January. The state has to file a fresh report that day.
On November 6, the bench had directed the Bengal government to continue with the investigations into the criminal case without “succumbing to any form of pressure”.
The bench had passed the earlier direction on the basis of a report submitted to the Calcutta High Court Chief Justice on September 15, 2023, on the status of the investigation and the alleged interference by the woman judge.
“If there is any form of interference in the investigations or at the time of filing the chargesheet, the matter may be brought to the notice of the top court,” the apex court bench had said.
The complainant woman, through senior advocate Sanjay Hegde, had told the court that what started as a property dispute had taken a different turn following alleged interference by the advocate husband of the woman judge.
It was alleged that the advocate and the judge had exerted pressure on the investigating agency, on account of which the petitioner had filed FIRs alleging criminal conspiracy, cheating, criminal intimidation, attempt to culpable homicide and other charges against her brother in the propertydispute.
The advocate husband of the judge is said to be appearing for the family of the petitioner’s brother and allegedly, with the help of his wife, pressured the police not to act on the criminal complaint filed by the woman on the ground that it was a civil dispute.