On Wednesday, the Calcutta High Court yet again ordered the West Bengal Government to

hand over custody of former Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Shajahan Sheikh to the Central
Bureau of Investigation (CBI) by 4.15 pm. Yesterday, a division bench headed by Chief Justice T
S Sivagnanam had directed Sheikh’s custody be handed over to the CBI by the
police. However, the state government approached the Supreme Court and the police refused to
hand over Sheikh’s custody on the grounds that the matter was sub-judice.
After being on the run for 55 days, Sheikh was arrested by the West Bengal Police on February
29 in connection with an attack on Enforcement Directorate officials at Sandeshkhali on January
5. The federal agency’s team was on the way to raid the local leader’s house in connection with
the alleged ration scam case for investigations are ongoing.
West Bengal government counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi appealed to Supreme Court:
Bench refused to hear plea
On Wednesday morning, West Bengal government counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi appealed
before a Supreme Court bench presided over by Justice Sanjiv Khanna to hear the plea.
However, the bench refused.
Later in the day, the CBI moved a petition before the Calcutta High Court. The state government
said that it would file a special leave petition (SLP) before the Supreme Court and asserted that
Sheikh could not be handed over before that. However, the division bench ordered once again
that Sheikh should be transferred to CBI custody by 4.15 pm on Wednesday.
The CBI has filed three FIRs on Tuesday – one on the attack on ED officials by Shajahan’s
gang in Sandeshkhali, another on the attack the investigating officials at Sarberia in North 24
Parganas district, and a third on the attack on the ED team at TMC leader Shankar Adhya’s
residence.
The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday had ordered the transfer of the probe into the January 5
attack on Enforcement Directorate officials in Sandeshkhali, as well as custody of Shajahan
Sheikh to the CBI. It has slammed the West Bengal Police heavily for its biased role in the
incidents.
Earlier order of joint SIT ruled out

The division bench of Calcutta HC Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay
Bhattacharyya also ruled out an earlier single-bench order that had directed the formation of a
joint special investigation team comprising of members of the CBI and state police to probe the
attack.