On Wednesday, the Supreme Court dismissed the West Bengal government’s plea seeking a hearing on the ‘Sandeshkhali case’ which is related to the assault on Enforcement Directorate (ED) officers in January.
The top court also refused to put a stay on the Calcutta High Court order which directed the State to hand over custody of ex-Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Sheikh Shahjahan to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Justice Sanjiv Khanna said that the Chief Justice of India will take note of urgent listing applications during lunch hour.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led state government had moved to the apex court demanding an early hearing.
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, representing the West Bengal government, mentioned the plea before a bench which included Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta.
On Tuesday evening, the state government also sought an urgent listing of the plea. In response, the bench instructed the state government counsel to bring the matter to the attention of the Registrar General of the Supreme Court.
The ED and the West Bengal government moved separate appeals in the high court challenging a single bench order which had on January 17 ordered the formation of a joint Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the CBI and the state police to investigate the mob attack on the ED officials.
While the ED wanted the investigation to be transferred to the CBI, the state requested that the investigation be given to its police.
The high court also directed that the custody of TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh be handed over to the central agency.
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