News Analysis India

Tag: CBI

  • Teacher recruitment scam: HC extends stay on order summoning Bengal minister to appear before CBI

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: In a temporary relief to senior West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee, a division bench of the Calcutta High Court Wednesday extended a stay for four weeks on an earlier order that directed him to appear before the CBI in connection with a petition alleging irregularities in appointment of assistant teachers in state government-aided schools.

    The division bench comprising Justices Subrata Talukder and A K Mukherjee also refused to accept the resignation of Justice (retired) R K Bag from the chairmanship of a committee appointed earlier by another division bench of the court to inquire into the allegations, and requested it to complete investigation in Group C-post appointments.

    The panel has already submitted its report on the probe into Group-D appointments.

    The bench directed that the stay granted by it on an order of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay that asked Partha Chatterjee to appear before the CBI by Tuesday evening will continue for four weeks from Wednesday.

    The bench also directed the Bag Committee to submit its report by May 13, when the matter will come up for hearing again.

    Chatterjee was the state education minister when the alleged appointments were made.

  • CBI arrests one more person in Birbhum killings case

    By PTI

    RAMPURHAT: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Sunday apprehended one more person in connection with the Birbhum killings, taking the total number of arrests made by the agency in the case to five, an official said.

    The accused, identified as Samir Sheikh, a resident of Bogtui village, was called by CBI sleuths for questioning on Sunday morning, he said.

    “This man’s name cropped up every time we spoke with eye-witnesses. Today, he was giving us different versions and trying to confuse us. We arrested him and will continue questioning him,” the CBI official said.

    Earlier, the CBI had arrested four accused people from Mumbai.

    The West Bengal Police had further arrested 22 people for their alleged involvement in the case.

    All of them are presently in CBI custody.

    Nine people died of burn injuries after assailants threw petrol bombs at several houses in Bogtui village near Rampurhat town on March 21 following the murder of local TMC leader Bhadu Sheikh.

    A Special Investigation Team constituted by the state government was earlier probing the case, which was later handed over to the CBI as per the Calcutta High Court’s order.

  • Birbhum killings: CBI books 10 people in TMC leader Bhadu Sheikh’s murder

    By PTI

    RAMPURHAT: The CBI on Saturday registered an FIR against 10 people in connection with the murder of TMC leader Bhadu Sheikh, which apparently led to the killing of nine people in West Bengal’s Birbhum district, a senior official said.

    Among those named in the FIR are Palash Shiekh, Sanju Shiekh, Sona Shiekh and Choto Shiekh — who have been arrested, he said.

    The case was filed under IPC sections 302 (murder) and 120B (criminal conspiracy), and relevant sections of the Explosive Substances Act.

    The CBI visited Rampurhat police station during the day, and collected the case diary and documents linked to Bhadhu Shiekh’s murder investigation, the official said.

    “The CBI officers spoke to the police personnel there. They also spoke to witnesses of the murder and took stock of the situation,” he said.

    CBI officers also visited Bogtui Mor where Bhadu was killed, he added.

    The CBI took over the investigation of murder from the police, following an order of the Calcutta High Court.

    Bhadu’s murder is believed to have led to the killing of nine people on March 21 in Bogtui village.

    The nine people, including two children, died of burn injuries after their houses were allegedly firebombed.

  • CBI questions SDPO in West Bengal’s Purulia councillor murder case

    By Express News Service

    KOLKATA: Armed with the high court order, the CBI on Saturday questioned sub-divisional police officer, Jhalda, Subrata Deb, in connection with the murder of Tapan Kandu, who was shot dead on March 13.

    The central agency also interrogated the officers of the Purulia district police who investigated the incident.

    In its make-shift camp office in Purulia, the sleuths of the central agency summoned five police personnel who were close to the incident.

    “We will also interrogate the eyewitness who accompanied the deceased after the incident.”

    The CBI registered an FIR on Saturday after the Kolkata High Court ordered it to conduct a probe into the incident. The agency asked the district police to hand over the case diary.

    The state government on Friday moved the division bench of the high court challenging the single bench’s CBI probe order.

    Kandu’s wife Purnima criticised the state government’s role asking “when the same agency was probing into the Rampurhat massacre where nine persons were charred to death, why CBI’s probe was being challenged?”

  • SC agrees to hear after April 15 PIL on speedy trial in cases against politicians

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear after April 15 a PIL which has sought expeditious trial of criminal cases against lawmakers and speedy investigation by the CBI and other agencies.

    A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana was urged by senior advocate and amicus curiae Vijay Hansaria that the plea needed to be listed for urgent hearing as despite various directions of the apex court on expeditious trial of politicians, nearly 2000 cases are pending trial for the last five years.

    At the outset, Hansaria sought an urgent interim order saying that a detailed 16th report on pendency of trials against lawmakers in the country has been filed and as per it, many criminal cases are pending in lower courts.

    “Outside they can wait for years. No problem. When it comes to the Supreme Court and you enter into the Supreme Court, it (the case) will become very urgent,” said the bench which also comprised justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli.

    “This is a public interest litigation (PIL). We have passed some orders. Now it is going on. Please wait for some time. The problem is that the judges have to be available…If I constitute a special bench for this case then I will disturb two benches. On a Friday, can I disturb two benches?” the CJI said.

    The CJI, after being urged by the amicus curiae, assisted by lawyer Sneha Kalita, agreed to hear the plea after April 15.

    The bench said, meanwhile, it can allow some interim applications of some high courts seeking transfer of some special judges conducting trials against lawmakers on various grounds.

    Earlier, the bench, on February 9, had agreed to consider listing for early hearing the PIL.

    Hansaria had said a fresh report, giving details of the pending cases against serving and former MPs, MLAs and MLCs, has been filed with the court and urgent, stringent steps are needed for expeditious disposal of the pending criminal cases.

    According to the recent report, a total of 4,984 cases are pending against Members of Parliament and Members of Legislative Assembly/Council out of which 1,899 cases are more than five years old.

    The report stated that the total number of cases pending as of December 2018 was 4,110; and as of October 2020 it was 4,859.

    “Even after disposal of 2,775 cases after December 4, 2018, the cases against MPs/MLAs have increased from 4,122 to 4,984. This shows that more and more persons with criminal antecedents are occupying the seats in Parliament and state legislative assemblies. It is of utmost necessity that urgent and stringent steps are taken for expeditious disposal of pending criminal cases,” said the report filed through advocate Kalita.

    The top court has been passing a slew of directions from time-to-time on the plea filed by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay for ensuring expeditious trial of cases against lawmakers and speedy investigation by the CBI and other agencies.

    Hansaria had said the status report filed by high courts also shows that special courts are constituted in some of the states whereas, in others, the courts of the respective jurisdiction are conducting trials in terms of the directions passed from time to time.

    On November 24 last year, the top court had asked the Allahabad High Court to issue a fresh notification to set up special magisterial courts to try minor offences involving lawmakers and ensure allocation of cases to sessions or magisterial courts depending upon the gravity of offences, saying the non-setting up of such courts in Uttar Pradesh was “based on an evident misconstruction” of its orders.

    The top court had taken exception to the non-setting up of special magisterial courts in Uttar Pradesh for trying lawmakers in minor offences and said the notification issued by the high court on August 16, 2019, was based on an “evident misconstruction” of its directions.

    The order had come on pleas raising the legal question of whether minor offences, triable by magisterial courts, against lawmakers can be prosecuted before a special court presided over by a sessions judge who is senior to a judicial magistrate.

  • Birbhum killings: Calcutta High Court orders CBI probe in TMC leader’s murder

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court on Friday ordered a CBI investigation into the murder of Trinamool Congress leader Bhadu Sheikh, in apparent retaliation to which nine persons were burnt to death in West Bengal’s Birbhum district.

    The high court had earlier ordered a CBI investigation into the killings of the nine people at Bogtui village.

    Prayers were made before a division bench presided by Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava for ordering a CBI probe into the murder of Bhadu Sheikh as well, claiming that the two incidents were interlinked.

    The bench, also comprising Justice R Bharadwaj, ordered the transfer of the murder case of Sheikh from the state police to the CBI for the purpose of a complete investigation.

    The bench had on March 25 ordered that the probe into the March 21 violence at Bogtui be handed over to CBI from the West Bengal government-appointed special investigation team.

    The state DGP had on March 22 said that the violence at Bogtui took place within an hour of the murder of Sheikh, the deputy chief of the local panchayat. The place of the murder of Sheikh is about a kilometre away from Bogtui.

  • Birbhum killings: 4 arrested from Mumbai brought to Kolkata

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: The four people arrested from Mumbai in connection with the Birbhum killings were brought back to Kolkata on Friday morning by the CBI, an official said.

    They were brought back to Kolkata on transit remand, granted by a Mumbai court till April 10, he said. “We will be taking them to Rampurhat later in the day to speed up the investigation. They will be grilled along with other accused arrested there,” the official said.

    The CBI on Thursday arrested the four persons — Bappa, Shabu, Taj Mohammad and Serajul — from Mumbai where they fled to following the massacre in Rampurhat’s Bogtui village on March 21.

    These were the first arrests made by the central agency after taking over the probe. Nine people died of burn injuries after their houses in Bogtui were allegedly firebombed following the murder of local TMC leader Bhadu Sheikh.

    The CBI took over the investigation of the case, following an order of the Calcutta High Court. The agency at present has the custody of at least 10 people who were arrested by the police in connection with the killings. Among them is then TMC block president Anarul Hossain.

  • Anil Deshmukh not in good health, CBI should question him in Mumbai: NCP

    Maharashtra NCP chief spokesperson Mahesh Tapase contended party leader Anil Deshmukh's shoulder is dislocated and he is not in a good shape health-wise.

  • CBI registers preliminary enquiry against Narinder Batra for Hockey India funds ‘misuse’ 

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The CBI has registered a preliminary enquiry against Indian Olympic Association president Narinder Batra for alleged misuse of Rs 35 lakh of Hockey India funds, officials said on Wednesday.

    The central probe agency had received a complaint against Batra following which it started a preliminary enquiry, which is the first step to establish prima facie criminality, they said.

    It was alleged in the complaint that Rs 35 lakh of Hockey India funds was used for personal benefits of Batra, the officials said.

    A turf war between Batra and Hockey India surfaced recently after he sent a terse communication to the sports federation, questioning the performance of the men’s hockey team in tournaments.

    After Batra’s missive, Olympian and member of the 1975 World Cup-winning team Aslam Sher Khan questioned Batra over his interest in matters of Hockey India.

    Khan said being the FIH (International Hockey Federation) chief, Batra’s interference in Hockey India’s operations is a clear case of ‘conflict of interest’.

    “Definitely, it is conflict of interest by Batra. He is the FIH president and being in that post, he can in no way interfere in the affairs of a national federation,” said Khan, who has challenged in the Delhi High Court some irregular appointments in HI, including that of Batra as a ‘life member’.

  • CBI to conduct forensic psychological assessment of nine arrested in Birbhum killings

    By PTI

    RAMPURHAT: The CBI has decided to conduct forensic psychological assessment of the nine persons arrested in connection with the killings in Birbhum district of West Bengal, an officer said on Saturday.

    During the assessments, one psychologist will be present to note their body language as well as facial expressions, which will be treated as evidence, he said.

    “Forensic psychological assessment will be used while grilling the nine suspects. This is to ascertain whether these persons are telling the truth or lying,” the officer told PTI.

    “A psychologist will be present and he will file his findings as a report, while will be produced as evidence in the court,” the officer added.

    The decision was taken after CBI found inconsistencies in their statements about the incident, another official said.

    The probe agency has interrogated the officer-in-charge of the firefighters who were involved in the rescue operations at the 10 houses in Bogtui village which were set ablaze after the killing of local TMC leader Bhadu Sheikh, the officer said.

    The CBI has also decided to send samples of the eight people killed in the carnage for DNA tests.

    “The affected families have told us that they were unable to identify the bodies. The DNA tests will help us in identifying them,” the officer said.

    CBI sleuths seized two e-rickshaws and a motorcycle, which the villagers claimed were used to bring bombs and jars filled with petrol, an official said.

    “The vehicles were seized from neighbouring Kumadda village. We have got eye-witnesses who saw people using these vehicles to bring in bombs and petrol-filled jars,” he said.

    Charred bodies of eight people were recovered from Bogtui village in Rampurhat police station area of the district, hours after the murder of the TMC leader and panchayat leader Bhadu Sheikh.

    The incident, which happened on March 21, sent shockwaves across the nation with the Calcutta High Court directing the CBI to take over the probe.

    Meanwhile, Debasish Chakraborty has been appointed as the new inspector-in-charge of Rampurhat police station in place of suspended officer Tridip Pramanik.