Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Monday dismissed the plea filed by Sahajahan Sk., an accused in a 2019 post-poll violence case, challenging a judicial directive that transferred the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
A Division Bench comprising Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Prasenjit Biswas held that an accused cannot contest a court’s decision to assign a probe to a particular agency.
The case relates to violent clashes that allegedly took place on June 8, 2019, in the Nazat area of North 24-Parganas, shortly after the Lok Sabha elections that year. Multiple police cases were registered at Nazat Police Station in connection with the incidents. Sahajahan Sk. was named as an accused in one of the FIRs. A chargesheet in the matter was submitted by the local police in 2022. However, in 2024, one of the complainants in the case approached the High Court, alleging that the police investigation was incomplete and biased. The writ petition sought an independent probe by the CBI. A single bench allowed the petition and directed the central agency to constitute a special team and take over the investigation.
Challenging this direction, Sahajahan Sk. moved an application before the Division Bench seeking leave to appeal. He argued that he was directly affected by the order but had not been heard since he was not made a party in the
writ petition. He also questioned the delay in approaching the court. Rejecting his arguments, the court held that an accused does not have a right to be heard at the stage of investigation. The court clarified that the principles of natural justice do not require that an accused be made a party to writ proceedings seeking a change in the investigating agency.
The court dismissed the application for leave to appeal. Consequently, the related appeal and another connected application were also dismissed.