Calcutta HC dismisses Sheikh Shajahan's prayer to appeal against CBI probe order in three murders

Kolkata: A division bench of the Calcutta High Court Monday dismissed a petition by suspended TMC leader Sheikh Shajahan seeking to appeal against a single bench order for a CBI probe into the alleged murders of three BJP workers at Sandeshkhali, holding that an accused has no right to choose the investigating agency. The single bench on June 30 ordered the CBI to investigate the murder cases. Dismissing the prayer by Shajahan, the division bench presided by Justice Debangsu Basak observed that as an accused, the appellant does not have a right to be heard at the stage of investigation or have a say in the matter of an appointment of an investigating agency. The bench, also comprising Justice Prasenjit Biswas, said that the high court is not obliged to hear the accused or make him a party to a writ petition, in which, the widows of the deceased had sought a CBI probe into the alleged murders. While the bodies of two of the men, claimed to be BJP workers at Sandeshkhali in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district, were found, body parts of another had reportedly been discovered. "Direction for an investigation by the CBI passed by the High Court, is not open to challenge by a prospective suspect or an accused in a criminal case," the bench said.

Holding that the appellant Sheikh Shajahan has no right to appeal against the judgment and order of Justice Jay Sengupta, the division bench dismissed his prayer seeking permission to appeal against it. The CBI was directed by Jusctice Sengupta to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) in this regard at the earliest and the further investigation was instructed to be done under the supervision of a senior officer of the rank of joint director. Shajahan, who was accused of engineering a mob assault on Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials when they went to search his premises in Sandeshkhali on January 5, 2024, in relation to a money laundering case, is at present in judicial remand.