The West Bengal government has moved the Supreme Court against the Calcutta High Court order refusing an interim stay on the previous order of its single-judge bench allowing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and ED to investigate the alleged multi-crore recruitment case in different municipalities.

Advocate Sunil Fernandes, representing the West Bengal government, on Friday sought urgent listing of the petition before a bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and K.V. Viswanathan.

Advertisement

He contended that the accused need protection, otherwise agencies will proceed with their probe. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta contended that if an accused had moved the court, it could have been understood and questioned, how can the state move the court?

After a brief hearing in the matter, the bench told Fernandes that the matter could be heard after vacation in July and asked him to mention it again on reopening of the court.

The state government’s plea said: “The Impugned Order while failing to grant stay on the investigation conducted by the CBI and ED relating to the alleged municipality recruitment scam, has also proceeded to ignore the law laid down by this Hon’ble Court in a catena of cases.”

The plea contended that order passed by court allowing the investigation by the CBI and the ED is a feeble attempt to overreach the orders passed by apex court with impunity, and to cast aspersions on the state government, in a proceeding, where no opportunity has been given to the state to investigate into any alleged offence, thereby usurping their powers, in a cavalier manner.

“The Division Bench erred in law by refusing to grant the interim relief of stay on the Impugned directions passed by the Ld. Single Judge, which is in teeth of the law laid down by this Hon’ble Court, and even when the Ld. Single Judge did not have the roster/determination to hear matters either relating to criminal proceedings or relating to municipal authorities, thereby transgressing its powers and jurisdiction, which makes the Impugned Order ex-facie illegal,” said the plea.

On May 22, a bench of Justice Biswajit Basu and Justice Apurba Sinha Roy refused to put an interim stay on the previous order of a single-judge bench of the high court allowing the CBI to investigate the multi-crore recruitment case in different municipalities of West Bengal.

The bench also directed Enforcement Directorate (ED), whose sleuths originally unearthed the alleged municipalities’ recruitment scam, to submit its case diary in the matter before the next date of hearing, which is scheduled on June 6.

Originally, the single-judge bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay gave go-ahead for central agencies probe into the municipalities’ recruitment case. The state government had then approached the Supreme Court with a plea for quashing the order by Justice Gangopadhyay. However, the apex court had referred the matter back to the Calcutta High Court.