[Birbhum violence] Calcutta High Court directs CBI to probe murder of TMC leader Bhadu Sheikh

The Calcutta High Court on Friday transferred the probe into the murder of All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) leader Bhadu Sheikh to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)..The order was passed by a Bench of Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj in a suo motu case taken up to consider the issue of the violence in Birbhum district of West Bengal, in which 8 persons were killed allegedly in retaliation to the said murder. .The Bench opined that the object of ensuring appropriate action against the person responsible for the incident would be achieved more appropriately if the murder, along with the incident that took place shortly thereafter, was investigated by the CBI."It is also worth noting if one agency investigates both the incidents then not only it will be easier to unearth the truth, but it will also facilitate trial before the same competent court," it was recorded. .The applicants submitted that in order to have a complete investigation and to unearth the truth, the investigation must be done by the CBI since both the incidents were interconnected. It was further submitted that the investigating agency was trying to cover up the issue in the Bhadu Sheikh murder case..However, Advocate General (AG) SN Mookherjee contested the plea, stating that no prayer was made in the petitions for the investigation in Sheikh's murder to be transferred to CBI, nor was there an allegation that the current investigation was being carried out improperly. .However, the Court took into account the claims that the incident of setting 10 houses on fire was not an isolated, independent incident, but in fact, a counter-blast to the murder of Sheikh. It also took into consideration the fact that the incidents took place within a gap of about 2 hours from each other, as well as the allegation of political rivalry. "Material placed on record prima facie suggests close relationship and linkage between the two incidents," the Court observed. .Therefore, the prayer to transfer the case to the CBI was allowed and the State Police was directed to immediately hand over the investigation with all records of investigation and those arrested to the CBI."The CBI is directed to investigate the murder case of Bhadu Sk along with the investigation in the case of Bogtui house burning and murder case," held the High Court. .The Bench also took on record the the progress report filed by the CBI in compliance with the Court's previous order in relation to the violence in Birbhum. The report was produced in a sealed cover which was opened, perused and taken on record.The Court also recorded that the report prima facie suggested that the incident in Bogtui village was a direct fallout of the killing of Bhadu Sheikh. It was noted that the report also suggested that the incident was the outcome of a rivalry amongst the members of two groups in the village and that the burning of houses resulting in death of 8 persons was a retaliatory plan..The CBI was further directed to file reports on both probes by May 2, the next date of hearing. .Advocate Phiroze Edulji appeared for the petitioners while advocate Priyanka Tibrewal appeared in-person..[Read Order]