Kolkata, April 4 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday received permission from the Calcutta High Court to file a contempt of court petition against West Bengal government for the latter’s “non- cooperation” in handing over documents related to the attack on the convoy of Union Minister Nisith Pramanik, allegedly by Trinamool Congress activists, on February 25.
The CBI had approached the division bench of Acting Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmoy Bhattacharya on this count on Tuesday morning, and it gave permission. The hearing in the matter will start from this week.
On March 28, the division bench of then Chief Justice Prakash Srivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj had directed the CBI to probe the attack on Pramanik’s convoy.
However, the CBI’s allegation had been that till date the state government had not handed over the related documents pertaining to the case to the central agency sleuths. Meanwhile, since Justice Srivastava has retired, the CBI approached the division bench of Justice Sivagnanam and Justice Bhattacharya seeking permission to file the contempt of court case against the state government.
Meanwhile, although the state government has approached the Supreme Court challenging the March 28 order by the division bench of Justice Srivastava (retired) and Justice Bharadwaj, the apex court is yet to give any stay on the CBI probe. The contention of the CBI counsel is that since the apex court is yet to give a stay in the matter the directive of the division bench on March 28 should be adhered to by the state government.
On February 25, the vehicle of Pramanik was attacked allegedly by Trinamool activists at Burihat under Dinhata Assembly constituency in Cooch Behar while it was passing through the area. The situation got tense as Trinamool and BJP supporters clashed with each other, throwing brickbats and stones, smashing the glass window of Pramanik’s car in the process.
The minister, however, did not sustain any injury as his security personnel safely escorted him out of the area, which by then had turned into a virtual battlefield.
Pramanik alleged that besides stones and bricks, the ruling party workers also hurled crude bombs targeting his convoy, his security personnel and local BJP supporters.
–IANS
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