Published: February 26, 2024 4:34 PM IST 
Calcutta: The Calcutta High Court on Monday clarified that no order has been issued to the Bengal police that is stopping them from arresting the main accused, Sheikh Shahjahan, in the sexual assault and land grabbing allegations from Sandeshkhali.
“We clarify there is no stay on arrest in any proceeding. There is only a FIR and Sheikh Shahjahan has been named as the main accused. Obviously he needs to be arrested,” the court said.
The clarification by the Calcutta HC came a day after TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee on Sunday claimed that the Bengal government is unable to arrest Shekh Shahjahan because the court had “tied the hands of the Police”.
The BJP slammed Abhishek Banerjee’s comment as ‘contempt of court’ and stated that Abhishek Banerjee seems to blame the High Court for delaying the inquiries- by staying its order to arrest the accused by forming a SIT to investigate the attack of January 5 on the Enforcement Directorate Team.
Banerjee said those demanding Shahjahan’s arrest should “come to court for an appointment” and asked, “Why did the High Court stay it? Was it to ensure that the BJP could make money from this incident?” and asserted that the Trinamool party was not protecting its on-going strongman.
The court acknowledged that a total of 43 FIR’s have been registered until December last year, out of which charge sheets have been filed on 42 of them. Meanwhile, for the case of land grabbing in the tribal community, 24 cases under various sections have been filed since February 8.
The court was amused to find out that no arrests have been made in the last four years.
The court scheduled a hearing in this case for March 6.
Abhishek Banerjee repeated his question, citing the arrests of Trinamool leaders Uttam Sardar and Shibu Hazra. “If High Court ties hands of state police, how can they arrest anyone?” he said. “I would like this to be documented… Shahjahan is not being guarded by Trinamool. The judiciary is. “Raise the stay and observe the police’s next move,” Banerjee stated.
Abhishek Banerjee further mentioned the Saradha chit fund scam, about which the ED started looking into in 2013, and claimed that the authorities needed “at least a month” to make arrests. He asserted that there was a “dual policy” and that the state police force was never granted the same discretion in its investigations.
Oponents of the TMC have refuted Banerjee’s claims, stating that the court had not ordered a halt to the investigation or the arrest of Sheikh Shahjahan or any other person.
Opposition leaders referred to Banerjee’s remarks as contempt of court. They were made following the arrest of party leader Ajit Maity by Bengal Police on allegations that he had stolen land from locals.
Abhishek Banerjee further targeted PM Modi who is set to hold three rallies in West Bengal in March, stating this will be just days before the Election Commission announces the dates of the Lok Sabha Election.
He further slammed other opposition leaders, including the CPIM, which is an ally of his party, and also a member of the INDIA bloc.
“Sandeshkhali had a CPIM MLA until 2016. Why did they not bring up the accusations? Photographs of Suvendu Adhikari with Shahjahan, shows that he was once his close aide before joining the BJP. Why did he remain silent after leaving the TMC,” said Banerjee.
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