The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the Lok Sabha privileges committee’s probe against top Bengal officers after a complaint by BJP MP Sukanta Majumdar alleging mistreatment while on a visit to violence-hit Sandeshkhali.

The Privileges Committee of the Parliament had ordered the Chief Secretary of West Bengal, the state Director General of Police and the local District Magistrate, the Superintendent of Police and the police station in charge to appear before it on Monday.

Challenging the summons, the officers approached the Supreme Court for an urgent hearing on the matter today. After listening to the petitioners’ arguments, Chief Justice of India DY Chadrachud ordered a pause on the parliamentary panel’s proceedings and issued notice to the Lok Sabha secretariat.

The notice was issued after Sukanta Majumdar, an MP from Balurghat, was injured during a clash with cops when a party delegation tried to visit the remote island.

Also Read: Sandeshkhali violence: Bengal BJP chief injured in clashes with cops, hospitalised

The court has issued notices to the Lok Sabha Secretariat, West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar, and the Union Home Ministry, and sought their responses within four weeks.

Sandeshkhali violence case

The case surrounds a Trinamool leader and local strongman Sheikh Sahajan and his aides who have been accused of systematically exploiting the villagers and multiple counts of sexual assault. Two of his henchmen – Uttam Sardar and Shibu Prasad Hazra – have been arrested, but Shahjahan is still on the run.

Governor CV Ananda Bose, who recently visited Sandeshkhali, said that “women in numbers” have told him they were harassed and intimidated, and that he has forwarded their written complaints to the state government.

Also Read: ‘Called for late-night meetings, asked to stay back’: Sexual harassment allegations surface against TMC men in Sandeshkhali

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has accused the BJP of making a “mountain out of a molehill”. “Instead of peace, they are starting fires,” she has claimed.

The National Commission for Scheduled Castes, which visited Sandeshkhali last week, had recommended President’s Rule in the state amid violence and political tension.