New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to examine a PIL seeking a court-monitored CBI or SIT probe into the violence in West Bengal’s Sandeshkhali village.
The plea, filed by lawyer Alakh Alok Srivastava, was mentioned for urgent listing before a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. The CJI queried Srivastava, appearing in person, “Have you sent an email (seeking urgent hearing)?” Srivastava responded in the affirmative. The CJI said he would deal with it in the afternoon.
Several women in the region have accused the local Trinamool Congress strongman Shajahan Sheikh and his supporters of land-grab and sexually assaulting them under coercion.
The plea sought a direction to transfer the investigation of the alleged sexual assault of women living in the village – Sandeshkhali, Basirhat, West Bengal, from the state’s police to the Central Bureau of Investigation or to a special investigation team (SIT) outside the West Bengal, preferably at Delhi, under the monitoring of the apex court.
“The terror of the said Sheikh Shahjahan in the said area is further evident from the fact that on 05.01.2024 when a team of Enforcement Directorate officers went to raid Sheikh’s house in Sandeshkhali in connection with alleged irregularities in the PDS scheme then the goons of the said Sheikh Shahjahan attacked the said ED officers in which three ED officers were badly injured and left bleeding”, said the plea.
The plea said the inaction of the local police authorities is evident from the fact that the said main accused Sheikh Shahjahan is absconding and has not been arrested till now. “There are serious allegations of the local police authorities acting hand in glove with the said main accused Sheikh Shahjahan at the behest of the ruling dispensation and thus, it is further in the interest of justice to transfer the investigation of this case to CBI or a SIT under the monitoring of this Court”, added the plea.
The plea contended that it is quite axiomatic that there are serious allegations of the local leaders of the ruling party of the state of West Bengal sexually assaulting various helpless women of village – Sandeshkhali, District – North 24 Parganas. It stressed that there are even more serious allegations of the local police being complicit with the leaders of the ruling party, not taking any action against the offender and rather implicating the family members of the victims themselves in false cases in order to silence them. “Hence, it is in the interest of justice to transfer the investigation and the subsequent trial of the instant case outside the state of West Bengal”, said the plea.
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