File photo: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee
In a setback to the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government, the Calcutta High Court today ordered that the Parui case be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation or CBI.
In July last year, one Sagar Ghosh was shot dead in Parui village in the state's Birbhum district. Mr Ghosh's son Hriday claimed that he, and not his father, had been the real target of the attack because he had been a rebel Trinamool candidate in the panchayat polls.
He had also alleged that Anubrata Mandal, president of the ruling party's Birbhum unit, had provoked the killing by publicly urging party workers to attack rebel candidates in the panchayat polls.
While passing its order, the Calcutta High Court today said it feels the investigation so far by the Special Investigation Team or SIT constituted by the state was "not impartial". There was distortion of facts by the investigating officer, political influence was exercised and there were gaps in the probe, said the court.
The SIT had recently filed a chargesheet in the case. However, though Mr Mandal was named in the First Information Report or FIR by the victim's family, he was not named in the chargesheet.
When the family approached the court to demand a CBI probe, the state government opposed its demand.
"The court felt Anubrata Mandal's speech was provocative," said the petitioner's lawyer Tapas Ghosh, "and could be considered tantamount to the abetment of crime."
The victim's son Hriday Ghosh has welcomed the order for the CBI probe.
Kalyan Banerjee, Trinamool Congress Member of Parliament and the state's advocate in the case, has said the government will challenge today's order before a division bench.