Sandeshkali row: Calcutta HC permits CBI and ED to arrest absconding Shahjahan Sheikh

The Calcutta High Court issued a directive on Wednesday stating that Trinamool Congress leader Shahjahan Sheikh, the main accused in cases involving alleged sexual offenses against women and land grabbing in Sandeshkhali, can be arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Enforcement Directorate (ED), or the West Bengal Police.

Hearing a plea filed by the Advocate General of the state, the court clarified its order issued on February 26, wherein it had instructed the police authority to arrest Sheikh. Noting that Sheikh had been on the run since January, the bench said that it is “well open to the CBI or the ED also to arrest” Sheikh who has been evading authorities for a considerable period, as PTI reported.

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In the previous hearing, a bench led by Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam clarified that there was no stay on Sheikh’s arrest, stating that a stay on the investigation does not imply a stay on the arrest of the accused.

“There is no stay on his arrest. A stay on investigation doesn’t mean a stay on arrest. There is an FIR registered; he is branded as an accused. He will have to be arrested,” the court noted.

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The court added that its order on February 7 had merely suspended the formation of a joint special investigation team (SIT) consisting of the CBI and West Bengal Police, as directed by a single bench. This SIT was intended to investigate an attack on ED officials.

On January 5 this year, ED officials were attacked by a mob of nearly 1,000 people, allegedly supporters of the TMC strongman, in Sandeshkhali when they attempted to search Sheikh’s premises in connection with an alleged ration distribution scam in the state.

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In a suo motu case based on media reports of women in Sandeshkhali accusing local TMC workers and leaders of sexual harassment and land grabbing, the division bench directed the High Court registry to issue a public notice in newspapers, informing that Sheikh has been included in the matter as he is on the run since January 5.

Since then, he and his associates have been implicated in several cases of land grab and criminal intimidation.