Supreme Court Adjourns West Bengal's SLP Against Order For CBI Inquiry Into Sandeshkhali Violence, Tells State Not To Use Pendency Of SLP To Prolong Proceedings Before High Court

The Bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice Sandeep Mehta observed, "The Learned Senior Counsel for the Petitioner seek an adjournment. The matter is adjourned after vacations. We have recorded the statement of Dr. Singhvi that the pendency of this petition could not be used for prolonging the proceedings for any other purposes."

Senior Advocate Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi appeared on behalf of the State and requested an adjournment and submitted that he has some new information which needs some time to be collected.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and ASG SV Raju appeared for the Respondents and vehemently opposed the request for adjournment.

The State of West Bengal, in its special leave petition against the order passed by the Calcutta High Court in Sandeshkhali Violence cases, has stated that the Public Interest Litigation Petitioners, Intervenors and other related parties are interested parties with oblique political motives and the State Police has already taken extensive steps in the matter which were ignored by the High Court. The prime accused in these cases is Sheikh Shahjahan who is in the custody of the Enforcement Directorate.

The State of West Bengal, in its plea, has stated, “The Hon’ble High Court has failed to appreciate that the PIL Petitioners, Intervenors and other related parties are interested parties with oblique political motives and any liberty granted to them to file complaints before the CBI would overburden the agency with frivolous complaints and further denude the actual victims of a reasonable opportunity to file a complaint…Furthermore, purported affidavits of alleged victims (600) enclosed along with CAN 1 of 2024 in WPA (P) 93 of 2024 is not kosher and subject to further verification as the Petitioner in person in WPA (P) 93 of 2024 i.e., Priyanka Tibrewal is the spokesperson of a political party in opposition who is steering political protest in Sandeshkhali. Therefore, the said directions are unwarranted and not sustainable in the eyes of law.”

On April, 10, 2024, the Division Bench comprising Chief Justice T.S Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya, Calcutta High Court had ordered that an impartial enquiry is required to be done by an agency which has the power to probe the criminal angle stated to be involved. Therefore, the Court opined that that it was necessary in the interest of justice and fair play, and for expeditious considerations of various complaints and allegations, an impartial enquiry was required to be conducted. The Court said that the State of West Bengal shall provide the required support to the CBI to enquire into the matter.

The SLP also stated, “There is no actionable material placed before the Hon’ble High Court to suggest police inaction in relations to the alleged incidents, as nearly 43 FIRs have been registered and the earliest of which was registered four years ago and the last FIR was registered on 10.02.2024. Further out of the 43 FIRs, in 42 cases chargesheets have been laid under various penal sections including Section 376 IPC. The Hon’ble High Court also noted that in seven cases of land grabbing charge sheets have been filed on 08.02.2024, apart from 24 cases of land grabbing having been registered by the State Police…It is stated that the Ld. Division Bench, in its haste in painting the entire State Machinery as biased and in cohoots with the Ruling dispensation, completely ignored the material placed before it indicating the measures taken by the State Govt./State Police in the investigation.”

The Petition also alleged that the transfer was founded on the sole ground that the CBI is already investigating the attack on the ED Officials in Sandeshkhali, therefore it would be prudent that the CBI should also investigate the allegations of sexual violence and land grabbing in Sandeshkhali.

The High Court had taken suo moto cognizance in response to the newspaper reports of alleged sexual assault, violence and land-grabbing cases in Sandeshkahli, North 24 Parganas, West Bengal. The Court had expressed anguish and concern over the fact that in earlier cases of a similar nature, the Police Authorities took four years to file chargesheets and there was a delay in investigations/inquiries.

The Calcutta High Court had also told the Counsel of the prime accused Sheikh Shahjahan that he shall not exercise his powers as Zila Parishad Pradhan of Sandeshkhali. The Calcutta High Court had refused the urgent listing of the Bail Application of TMC Leader Shahjahan Sheikh who was arrested either in the morning or late night yesterday in the sexual assault, violence and land-grabbing cases from Sandeshkhali.

A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) had been filed before the Calcutta High Court seeking justice for the victims of the alleged Sandeshkhali large-scale violence, praying for a High Court-monitored CBI/ SIT enquiry into the matter. The plea, filed by AOR Alakh Alok Srivastava, further sought the constitution of a Fact-finding Committee, compensation to the victims, deployment of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in the violence-affected area, and action against the erring police officials.

Accordingly, the SLP will be listed after vacations of the Supreme Court.

Cause Title: State of West Bengal and Ors. v. High Court of Calcutta through Registrar General and Ors. ( SLP(C) 9462-9465 of 2024)