Not one or two – The Calcutta High Court has ordered a CBI probe into seven cases in the last three weeks. Naturally, the question arises as to whether the state police is gradually losing confidence among people and the court.
In the past few weeks, West Bengal has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. From teacher recruitment scams where Partha Chatterjee, former Minister of School Education of West Bengal, has been summoned to Birbhum massacre where eight people were burnt alive, Mamata Banerjee-led state government has been criticised from all quarters. And, for all these cases, Calcutta High Court has ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation to take charge, that raises questions on the neutrality of the state government and its investigative agencies.
Talking on the Rampurhat violence and Calcutta HC’s order for CBI probe, Dilip Ghosh, BJP national vice president, said, “Every one wants a CBI probe. People have lost faith in the state government. Earlier too, the state had formed multiple SITs to probe cases but the truth never came out. Now that the CBI has been handed over the case, we hope they will uncover the truth.”
Here’s a look at the recent cases at Calcutta High Court where HC has asked CBI to take charge:
Birbhum Violence
Calcutta High Court told Central Bureau of Investigation to take over the case of eight people who were burnt alive allegedly in retaliation to murder of the local Trinamool Congress leader, Bhadu Sheikh in West Bengal’s Rampurhat. The CBI will submit the status report to the court in a week and the next hearing will be on 7 April.
Taking record of the preliminary report on the case, the HC ordered a CBI probe by opining that such a direction was required in the interest of justice and to instill confidence in the society and to have a fair investigation in order to ‘dig out the truth’ reports Live Law.
Initiating a sou motu case, HC order state formed Special Investigating Team (SIT) to carry no further investigation on this matter.
Mamata Banerjee, who visited Rampurhat, said,”Police will ensure strictest punishment is handed out to culprits responsible for the Rampurhat carnage. The case filed before the court should be water-tight.” When local residents complained to the chief minister that local TMC block president Anarul Hussain had hatched the conspiracy to set the houses ablaze, she ordered the DGP to arrest him. Anarul was arrested from Tarapith of the district.
Reacting to the Calcutta High Court order to transfer the investigation to the CBI, the Trinamool Congress said that the state government was doing an impartial inquiry into the matter. The party denied the allegations of the opposition and added that even a party leader has been arrested in the case. The impartiality of the state government cannot be questioned, it added.
TMC leader Bhadu Sheikh murder
The Calcutta High Court has ordered a CBI investigation into the murder of Trinamool Congress leader Bhadu Sheikh, which apparently led to the retaliatory killing of eight people, including a woman and child in Birbhum district. The high court had earlier ordered a CBI investigation into the killings, too.
Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava heard pleas for ordering a CBI probe into the murder of Bhadu Sheikh as well, claiming that the two incidents were interlinked.
The court noted that a progress report of investigation submitted by the CBI before it prima facie suggested that the incident of burning and killing at the village is the direct fallout of killing of Bhadu Sheikh. The court directed the SIT to immediately hand over the probe in the case of the murder of Bhadu Sheikh to the CBI along with all the records of the investigation conducted so far as also the accused persons who have been arrested.
The bench directed the CBI to file a report of investigation in both the cases on the next date of hearing on 2 May.
SLST Recruitment Scam
The Calcutta High Court has ordered a CBI probe into alleged irregularities in the recruitment of teachers in state-run schools through State Level Selection Test (SLST) of West Bengal. While the notification for appointment of teachers was published in 2014, the recruitment process started only in 2016, along with alleged anomalies in the recruitment process. Petitioners at High Court alleged that many examinees who got less marks ranked high in the merit list and many whose names weren’t even in the merit list, received appointment letters.
The court observed that the ‘prima facie evidence’ produced, raises ‘a serious concern’ which prompted a CBI enquiry.
SSC Recruitment Scam
Calcutta High Court has also ordered a CBI inquiry into an SSC recruitment scam, where teachers hired were allegedly not part of the merit list. Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay said: “It is extremely surprising that some candidates have been appointed as assistant teachers when their names were not in the list — either the panel or the waitlist. Unless a person secures a place either in the panel or in the waitlist, he cannot be recommended either at the time of recommendation from the panel or thereafter from the waitlist.”
The HC added: “It is not that I do not have any confidence upon the police of this state. But the police is controlled by the state and, in effect, they are chained by orders from different quarters. Otherwise I have the belief that the Kolkata Police or the police of the state is fully capable to inquire into the matter. Therefore, I am directing the CBI to hold this inquiry which has happened in this state, by statutory authority of this state, as an agency outside the control of this state.”
In this case, CBI has registered a case against West Bengal Directorate of School Education former deputy director Alok Kumar Sarkar and unidentified officials of the School Service Commission. The FIR was filed by the central agency’s anti-corruption bureau under Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (using forged document or electronic record as genuine) of the Indian Penal Code.
Murder of Congress councilor Tapan Kandu
Calcutta High Court (HC) ordered a CBI probe into Congress councillor Tapan Kandu’s murder case, asking Jhalda police to handover all case-related documents to the central agency.
Some bike-borne goons allegedly shot Kundu when he had gone for a walk on 13 March, and a Special Investigation Team was constituted to probe the case. Kundu’s wife demanded a CBI probe and filed a petition at Calcutta HC. Kandu’s brother Naren Kandu has been arrested on charges of hiring professional killers for the murder.
Death of Niranjan Baishnab, eyewitness in Tapan Kandu’s murder
The Calcutta High Court also ordered a CBI investigation into the unnatural death of eyewitness Niranjan Baishnab in the Jhalda Municipality Councilor Tapan Kandu murder case.
The court order read, “The statement of the deceased was also recorded by the State police in connection with the investigation into the death of the said Tapan Kandu. The parties describe the said Niranjan Baishnab as an eyewitness to the murder of Tapan Kandu. It is submitted that since the investigation into the death of Tapan Kandu has already been transferred to the C.B.I., this Court’s order dated 4th April 2022 in W.P.A. No.5418 of 2022, and since the deceased Niranjan Baishnab was a crucial eyewitness to the said murder of Tapan Kandu, the investigation into the death of Niranjan Baishnab must also be conducted by the C.B.I.”
Baishnab was found hanging in his house. He, in the suicide note, mentioned that he decided to commit suicide due to mental depression. As Tapan Kandu’s murder eyewitness, he had to face repeated police interrogations. However, the police claimed that Baishnab hasn’t blamed anyone for taking the extreme step.
Hanskhali case
Calcutta High Court has ordered the handing over of the probe in the alleged rape and death of a minor girl at Hanskhali in West Bengal to CBI from the state police for ensuring a “fair investigation”.
Passing the order, a division bench of the HC presided by Chief Justice Prakash Srivastava said the fact that there is no post mortem report and no death certificate creates suspicion about an attempt to suppress the entire incident and to wipe out evidence.
“In the circumstances of the case and after considering the legal position, we are of the opinion that in order to have fair investigation in the matter and to instill confidence of the family members of the victim and also the residents of the locality and the State, the investigation should be carried out by CBI instead of the local police,’ the HC bench ordered.
The court directed the state investigating agency to hand over all papers relating to the probe along with the custody of the accused persons to CBI forthwith. It also directed CBI to furnish a report about the progress of investigation before the court on the next date of hearing on May 2.
“The concerned authorities are also directed to extend full protection to the family members of the victim and witnesses of the case,” the bench directed and said that it cannot lose sight of the fact that the accused is the son of a powerful leader of the ruling party and that there is material available in the case diary indicating that the family members of the victim have been threatened.
With input from agencies
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