HIGH COURT ORDERS CBI PROBE IN TMC LEADER’S MURDER CASE

COURT STATED THAT FRESH TRIAL BE COMPLETED IN 6 MONTHS FROM THE DATE OF ITS COMMENCEMENT

KOLKATA: The Calcutta high court on Thursday directed that the investigation into the 11-yearold murder case of TMC leader Tapan Dutta be transferred to the CBI from the state CID.

It ordered that fresh trial in the case be completed within six months from the date of its commencement.

Dutta was shot dead in 2011 for allegedly speaking up against illegal land filling and construction in Bengal’s Howrah district.

Maintaining that the victim may have been obstructing huge monetary and political gain that some persons were after, Justice Rajasekhar Mantha observed that fair and effective investigation may indeed open a can of worms or expose any likely role of influential persons. “This Court directs that investigation and prosecution in the matter is to be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation forthwith,” Justice Mantha said in his judgement.

He ruled that the CBI may, in its discretion, conduct further investigation, as it deems necessary. The CID, which had so far been probing the murder of Dutta, was told to forthwith hand over all the case papers and evidence collected.

“The state agencies have clearly failed to effectively investigate the crime and bring the actual culprits to book. There is thus, an urgent and immediate need to instil public faith in the investigation and trial, which provides sufficient impetus for the change in the investigation agency,” it pointed out.

Petitioner Protima Dutta, the wife of the deceased, had moved the high court in June 2012 seeking transfer of investigation to an independent agency.