Calcutta High Court Hands over Sandeshkhali Inquiry to CBI, Justice Gangopadhyay to Join BJP

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, Mar 5: The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the Sandeshkhali incident where an Enforcement Directorate (ED) team on its way to raid the house of former Trinamool Congress leader Sheikh Shahjahan was attacked.

The court ordered the police to hand over custody of Shahjahan, the former Trinamool strongman accused of extortion, land grab, and sexual assault in Sandeshkhali to the CBI by 4.30 pm.

A division bench comprising Calcutta High Court Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam ordered that FIRs No. 8 and 9 at Nazat police station and FIR No. 18 at Bangaon police station be investigated by the CBI. Earlier, the high court had constituted a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the Sandeshkhali incident. On Tuesday, the division bench quashed the SIT and ordered the CBI to investigate the matter.

The court held the state police to be “totally biased” and called for a “fair, honest, and complete investigation” into the allegations against Shahjahan. “There can be no better case than this… which requires to be transferred (and) to be investigated by the CBI,” the bench observed.

The Bengal government moved swiftly to challenge the order in the Supreme Court, but its appeal for an immediate hearing has been turned down. The top court said it would proceed per the rules and asked senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi to mention the plea before its Registrar-General.

The High Court bench set aside its earlier order setting up a special investigative team – of CBI and state police officials – and transferred the case to the central agency.

Both the Enforcement Directorate and the state moved separate challenges to that order; the ED wanted the case to be given to the CBI only, while the state wanted the police to handle the probe.

The Sandeshkhali incident took place on January 5 when hundreds of supporters of Shahjahan attacked the ED team that was on its way to raid his house in the alleged ration scam case. While three ED officials were injured in the attack, Shahjahan escaped and was on the run for 55 days before his arrest last month.

The January 5 incident led to violent protests by residents who accused Shahjahan and his aides of sexual assault and land-grabbing. The attack and Shahjahan’s disappearance had sparked a huge political row; the ruling Trinamool was targeted by the BJP, which accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s party of protecting him.

On the run for 55 days, Shahjahan was finally arrested by a special police team on Saturday and was suspended from the party by the TMC for six years. His arrest came three days after the High Court ordered his arrest. An angry court was responding to allegations by Trinamool MP Abhishek Banerjee, who said the judiciary had “tied” the state’s hands and that his party was not “guarding” the accused.

I want to put this on record… Trinamool is not guarding Shahjahan. Judiciary is. Lift the stay and see what police does…” he had said in response to the BJP’s allegations. The court shot back, saying, “Shahjahan obviously needs to be arrested.” “We clarify there is no stay on arrest in any proceeding. He is absconding,” the court declared.

BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari – a former Trinamool leader and close aide of Ms Banerjee – declared, “This is not an arrest; this is a mutual adjustment.” The Shahjahan-Sandeshkhali row was the focus of a sharp attack by Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he was in Bengal last week. Mr Modi also accused the Trinamool of shielding its former member, and slammed Ms Banerjee for valuing “some people” over the suffering of women.

Meanwhile, the controversial judge of the Calcutta High Court, Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who on Sunday had announced his resignation from the judiciary, on Tuesday confirmed that he would be joining the BJP and left it to the party to decide if he would be fielded by the party as a candidate for the coming Lok Sabha elections. He said he would join the BJP possibly on Thursday afternoon. “Maybe on March 7, in the afternoon. There is a tentative program when I will join the BJP,” he said.

Speaking to reporters in Kolkata, he also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whom he called a “very hardworking man”, and ripped into the ruling Trinamool, which he declared had “inspired” him to enter politics.

“Trinamool is imploding… it means corruption. PM Modi is a very hardworking man and he is trying to do something for this country,” he declared and took swipes at the other opposition parties, “I believe in God and religion, but CPIM does not and the Congress is the zamindari of one family.”

Justice Gangopadhyay – who made headlines last year, after an interview in which he discussed a case he was hearing – is widely expected to be fielded by the BJP in the general election.

There is speculation he could contest the Tamluk seat, which has been a bastion of the ruling Trinamool Congress in recent elections; the party has held it since the 2009 election. The seat was held by Suvendu Adhikari (between 2009 and 2016, when he quit), who was widely seen as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s right-hand man till his incendiary switch to the BJP.

Earlier today Justice Gangopadhyay confirmed his resignation, telling reporters, “I am going to meet the Chief Justice for a courtesy visit. I have already sent my resignation to the President.”

Justice Gangopadhyay had received an invitation to join politics from Trinamool spokesperson Kunal Ghosh, to which he had replied, “He has said lot of things against me as a political spokesperson, but I like him as a person. He is a good human being.”

Apart from the interview about the case he was hearing – in connection with which Supreme Court Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said “judges have no business granting interviews on pending matters” – Justice Gangopadhyay has frequently made headlines with rulings on various issues. Earlier this year he accused Justice Soumen Sen – who led a bench that stayed an order for a CBI probe into college irregularities – of working for a political party.

The matter is pending in the top court. Several of his judgements have been accused of having carried political colour and some TMC leaders had demanded that judgements on political issues delivered by him in the recent past be reviewed since he has now made his political lineage clear.