Sandeshkhali Violence: Calcutta HC orders to add Sheikh Shahjahan to the case; no stay on his arrest

The Calcutta High Court Chief Justice on Monday ordered to add Sheikh Shahjahan, ED, CBI, state home secretary to be impleaded as parties in suo motu matter to the Sandeshkhali case.

Further, the court also clarified that there is no stay on arrest of TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh, accused of atrocities in Sandeshkhali, and that the police can arrest him.

Shahjahan, a leader within the TMC, has been accused of "sexual abuse and land grab" by villagers in West Bengal's restive Sandeshkhali.


Presided by Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam, the division bench directed that a public notice be given in newspapers by the high court registry stating that Sheikh has been impleaded in the matter.

The court also stated that the matter will come up for hearing again on March 4.

Tension erupted in North 24 Parganas district’s Sandeshkhali with locals protesting against Trinamool leader Sheikh Shahjahan’s torture. Shahjahan has been absconding for almost a month since the ED issued him summons in the alleged ration allotment scam where the probing agency was attacked at his premises on January 5.

The protestors, mainly women, sat on the streets, claiming that Shahjahan, known to be a Trinamool strongman, has encroached on their agricultural land and had been torturing them for long.