Division bench of Calcutta HC upholds order on CBI probe against Sheikh Shahjahan in 2019 murder case

KOLKATA: A division bench of the Calcutta High Court, on Monday, upheld an earlier order by a single-judge bench of the same court on the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe in the murder of three BJP workers at Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal in 2019.

One of the prime accused is now suspended Trinamool Congress leader Sheikh Shahjahan.

He is also the principal accused in the case of assault of Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) personnel in front of his residence in January 2024.

On June 30, Calcutta High Court’s single-judge bench of Justice Jay Sengupta had ordered a CBI enquiry in the matter. Thereafter, Shahjahan approached a division bench of the Calcutta High Court against the single-judge bench order. There are other charges against Shahjahan, including involvement in the multi-crore ration distribution case in West Bengal, sexual harassment of women, and illegal land grabbing at Sandeshkhali. He is currently in judicial custody.

The matter came up for hearing at the division bench of Justice Debangshu Basak and Justice Prasenjit Biswas on Monday, and at the end of the hearing, the said bench dismissed Shahjahan’s petition and upheld the single-judge bench order in the matter.

The division bench also observed that, going by a recent observation of the Supreme Court, there was no admissibility in Shahjahan’s petition challenging the single-judge bench order.

In the case of the murder of three BJP workers, Shahjahan’s name was in the initial charge sheet when the investigation was being carried out by the North 24 Parganas district police.

However, after the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the state police took over the investigation, his name was removed from the charge sheet.