Why Supreme Court closed plea alleging interference by Calcutta High Court judge's husband in criminal probe

The Supreme Court on May 10 disposed of a plea filed by a 64-year-old widow and her daughter alleging interference in a criminal probe by the lawyer-husband of sitting Calcutta High Court judge, Justice Amrita Sinha..The Court closed the case after questioning the State of West Bengal for bringing politics into the matter. A Bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta expressed strong disapproval over the same. "You (State) have brought politics into the FIR! How could you do it? This is not allowed. Do you want me to show that part? We will not interfere any further. Plea disposed of," Justice Khanna remarked..The case is rooted in a legal battle over certain ancestral property. It was claimed that one of the petitioners was threatened on several occasions to give up the property and even physically beaten, which incident was stated to have been captured by CCTV cameras.Therefore, two criminal cases were filed by the petitioner-widow against her relatives. The first case involved allegations of criminal conspiracy, causing hurt, cheating, forgery and wrongful restraint. The second involved allegations of an attempt to commit culpable homicide, outraging the modesty of a woman, house trespass, causing hurt and criminal intimidation as well an offence under Section 25 of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007.Notably, the petitioners alleged that advocate Protap Chandra Dey, the husband of Justice Sinha, was engaged by their relatives and has been using his clout and exerting pressure on the investigating agency so that these criminal cases are not investigated properly.It was further argued that owing to such pressure, the probe in the two criminal cases have been brought to a standstill.The petitioners, therefore, moved the Supreme Court seeking directions to ensure that the two criminal complaints are properly investigated without any influence by advocate Dey or his wife, Justice Sinha.The petitioners alleged that the Investigating Officer was summoned to the official chambers of Justice Sinha and that he was rebuked, reprimanded and ordered to drop the criminal investigation as the matter was purely civil in nature..After the matter reached the Supreme Court, the State Crime Investigation Department (CID) was directed to continue with the probe without succumbing to any pressure and to inform the Court whether there was any interference as claimed.In December 2023, the West Bengal government claimed that Dey was not complying with a notice to be called as a witness.The Court on May 10 decided to dispose of the petition, after taking critical note that certain politically coloured allegations have been included in the criminal complaint. Meanwhile, the Court was also informed that a chargesheet has now been filed in the matter. .Senior Advocate Sunil Fernandes and advocate Astha Sharma represented the West Bengal government.The petitioners were represented by Senior Advocate Sanjay Hegde along with advocates Nina Nariman and Mithu Jain.