A division bench of the high court on Wednesday issued an interim stay on an order by Justice Jay Sengupta of the court for a joint probe by the CBI and the state police into the attack on Enforcement Directorate officials in Sandeshkhali, North 24-Parganas, on January 5.
The ED team that went to raid the house of Trinamul Congress leader Shahjahan Sheikh in connection with alleged corruption in the state’s public distribution system was attacked by hundreds of villagers and had to leave.
The division bench, headed by Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam, also stayed the proceedings and investigation by the state police till further orders. The bench will hear the matter next on March 6. Till then, no investigation into the case will be allowed, the court said.
The court granted permission to the central agencies to oppose the anticipatory bail plea moved by Shahjahan. “If Shahjahan Sheikh moves anticipatory bail plea in the meantime, the ED and the CBI will have the liberty to oppose it,” the division bench said.
The bail prayer is likely to come up before a court on February 12.
Neither the agencies involved nor the lawyers associated with the case were certain whether the order meant that none of the agencies could arrest Shahjahan in the meantime.
State advocate-general Kishore Datta told the bench: “Please allow the state to continue with the investigation as it is progressing now without any CBI intervention.”
After the January 5 attack, the ED petitioned Justice Sengupta for a CBI investigation. The agency submitted that it suspected that the state police would not take any action as the main accused was a Trinamul Congress leader.
But considering that the CBI officers might face problems while conducting the investigation in the remote Sunderbans areas without the help of the state police, Justice Sengupta had on January 16 ordered a joint probe by the central agency and the Bengal police.
The ED and the police then appealed against Justice Sengupta’s order separately before the division bench headed by the chief justice. Both sought permission to probe the attack independently, without the involvement of the other.
The two appeals came up together for hearing before the division bench on Wednesday. The bench stayed Justice Sengupta’s order and asked both parties to file affidavits and come to the bench again on March 6.
Moving the plea on behalf of the ED on Wednesday, additional solicitor-general Ashok Chakrabarti said: “Since some senior political leaders, including former food minister Jyotipriyo Mallik, are accused in this case, there is every possibility that the investigation will be influenced in the presence of the state police. So, the CBI should be allowed to conduct the probe independently.”
A lawyer representing Shahjahan went to the ED office at the CGO complex in Salt Lake on Wednesday with a letter. The lawyer refused to divulge the contents of the letter. The letter was not “received” by the ED, the lawyer said.
Shahjahan had been summoned by the ED on Wednesday but he did not appear before it.