Govt backs Anubrata in court

KOLKATA: The Mamata Banerjee government threw its weight behind Trinamool's Birbhum president Anubrata Mandal in the high court on Tuesday. Government lawyers argued against CBI inquiry into the Parui murder case in which Mandal is among the accused.
Justice Harish Tandon, however, admitted the petition and directed the state to file an affidavit when the court takes up the matter for hearing on August 19.
Public prosecutor Manjit Singh submitted to the high court that the Special Investigating Team (SIT) set up by Justice Dipankar Datta on February 14 has made much progress in the case, and the police have already submitted charge sheet. Singh argued that there was no need of a CBI inquiry after submission of charge sheet to the court.
Government pleader Ashok Bandyopadhyay cited a number of cases in which the CBI could make little headway in the inquiry. Bandyopadhyay held that demanding a CBI inquiry has become a fad these days. Bandyopadhyay submitted that the SIT inquiry is at an advanced stage and the hearing is scheduled on July 25 at the lower court. District magistrate Birbhum is also probing Mandal's hate speech as was directed by the Election Commission of India.
High court lawyer Subrata Mukhopadhyay said: "The argument that a fresh inquiry should not be ordered when the police have submitted the charge sheet doesn't hold ground.
There is a Supreme Court order saying that the court may consider a fresh inquiry if the accused belongs to the ruling party."In support of his argument Mukhopadhyay cited the Rizwanur Rahman case where the high court ordered a CBI inquiry after the CID had filed charge sheet. Even in the Netai murder case, the Calcutta high court had ordered a CBI inquiry since the accused belonged to the ruling party. Anubrata Mandal also happens to be the ruling Trinamool's district leader and had shared the dais with chief minister and also government functionaries namely the chief secretary and home secretary.