Other States - Kolkata   

High Court adjourns by two weeks hearing on Netai probe

KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court on Friday adjourned by two weeks the hearing on the investigations into the January 7 firing at Netai in Paschim Medinipur district in which nine persons were killed as the State government's appeal in the Supreme Court against the order of the High Court is pending.

Meanwhile, the hearing on the matter in the Supreme Court was scheduled for the day but did not come up.

Expressing dissatisfaction with the progress of investigation being carried out by the State's Criminal Investigation Department (CID), a Division Bench of the High Court, comprising Chief Justice J. N. Patel and Justice Asim Kumar Roy, had in an interim order on February 18 directed the West Bengal government to hand over the investigations to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The State government has appealed against the order in the Supreme Court.

The Calcutta High Court is monitoring the investigations into the case and had also directed the CBI to submit a preliminary report on the progress of investigations in two weeks' time.

CBI submits report

During the day, the CBI submitted a report on progress of investigations to the Bench in a sealed envelope. However, the contents of the report were not made public to ensure that the investigations are not hampered.

Advocate General Balai Chandra Ray mentioned to the Court that the State government had appealed against the order in the Supreme Court and the hearing was adjourned by two weeks.

PIL

The ruling of the Calcutta High Court was passed on a public interest litigation petition filed by the Calcutta High Court Bar Association on January 10. The petitioners had questioned the neutrality of a State agency such as the CID in carrying out investigations into the incident since the accused belong to the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) and prayed that the case be handed over to the CBI.

Of the seven accused persons in the case, four were arrested by the CID while three others — Joydeb Giri, Tapan Dey and Fullara Mondal — are absconding.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Governor summons top officials to take stock of law and order
Pollution control board issues green guideline for parties
Complaints of election code violation pour in
Vidya Balan grooves to Bengali band's tune
Parties ask for appointment of expenditure agents in Bengal
High Court adjourns by two weeks hearing on Netai probe
Cop kidnapped in Jhargram, within days of marriage
Exams in West Bengal to be rescheduled due to elections

Copyright © 2011, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu