Shahjahan Sheikh case: Calcutta High Court allows ED to file contempt petition against West Bengal

On Wednesday, the Calcutta High Court allowed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to file a contempt petition against the West Bengal government for failing to hand over the custody of suspended TMC leader Shahjahan Sheikh to the CBI, despite a previous court order. .
Deputy Solicitor General Dheeraj Trivedi, representing the ED, sought permission to file the contempt petition and sought expedited hearing citing loss of valuable time in transferring Shaikh’s custody to the CBI.
The high court had earlier directed the CBI to probe the mob attack on ED officials during a raid on Shaikh’s premises in Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district on January 5 as part of the ration scam probe.
A division bench of Justice Harish Tandon and Justice Hiranmoy Bhattacharya allowed the ED to file the petition.
Meanwhile, the West Bengal government on Wednesday sought an urgent hearing in the Supreme Court challenging the High Court’s decision to hand over the investigation into the attack on ED officials to the CBI.
A division bench led by Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam had ordered transfer of the investigation to the CBI and directed that Shaikh’s custody be handed over to CBI authorities by 4.30 pm the same day.
Reportedly, CBI officials waited for more than two hours at the CID headquarters in Bhawani Bhawan for Sheikh’s custody, but after the state agency informed them that the West Bengal government filed an appeal in the Supreme Court on Tuesday evening Have done, returned empty handed.
Shaikh was arrested by the West Bengal Police on February 29 in connection with the attack on ED officials, after which the state government transferred the case to the CID.