Supreme Court: In a special leave petition filed by the State of West Bengal against the Calcutta High Court order directing the transfer of the probe into the attack against Directorate of Enforcement (‘ED’) at Sandeshkhali to the CBI and to transfer the custody of the prime accused Shahjahan Sheikh to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the division bench of Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta, JJ. has dismissed the plea, while agreeing to remove the critical observations made by the High Court regarding the conduct of the state government and police.
It was alleged that the ED officers were attacked when they had gone to search premises of suspended Trinamool Congress leader Shahjahan Sheikh linked to an alleged ration scam in West Bengal’s Sandeshkhali.
The application before the Calcutta High Court was moved by the CBI which believed that the State police’s custody of Shahjahan Sheikh would frustrate the purpose of the investigation.
Besides being implicated in the assault on an ED team, Shahjahan Sheikh faces charges of land encroachment, extortion, and sexual assault.
Source: Press
