No relief for West Bengal government as SC refuses to hear plea on Sandeshkhali case
NEW DELHI: The West Bengal government for the second consecutive day on Wednesday, failed to get any relief from the Supreme Court on its appeal on listing and hearing against the Calcutta High Court order directing a CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) probe in the Sandeshkhali matter.
The West Bengal government, desperately yesterday also pleaded to the SC bench for immediate listing of the matter, but the SC bench, led by Justice Sanjiv Khanna, did not list it and asked lawyer, Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing the West Bengal government, to mention it before the SC Registrar General and after which, the CJI will list it by giving a date.
But Dr Singhvi could not mention the matter before the CJI bench (as directed by Justice Khanna earlier), as the CJI was hearing the Constitution bench in a matter pertaining to levy of taxes in the mines case. The protocol and standard operating procedure (SOP) of the Supreme Court restricted a lawyer from mentioning any case during the mid of the hearing or after the hearing is over.
Dr Singhvi called the decision of the Calcutta High Court as "against the concept of federalism."
Challenging the illegality of Calcutta HC's of March 5, division bench order, the West Bengal government had said that there are urgency in the matter, was that they (CBI) wanted overnight compliance in an interim order.
Dr Singhvi alleged that the Calcutta HC had passed the order, and was uploaded at 3:30 pm and then the HC asked it to comply with the directions by 4.30 pm which make it remediless.
The Prime accused in the case, Shahjahan Sheikh, a TMC (Trinamool Congress) leader, was arrested in February 29, after evading arrest for around 50 days.
It is to be noted that the Calcutta High Court in its order had yesterday transferred the probe into attacks on ED officers by Shahjahan Sheikh's men to CBI.
The Calcutta HC had ordered that all the relevant papers and documents in the case and Sheikh’s custody be handed over to the CBI.
The Calcutta HC bench of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya directed for a CBI probe, after noting that the probe was being entrusted to the CBI, as there was a need for a fair and unbiased investigation, particularly due to the accused’s alleged political influence and connections within the ruling party.
Meanwhile, today also the Calcutta HC ordered that Sheikh's custody be handed over to the CBI. Following this, the CBI team had reached the police headquarters to take the custody of Sheikh.