• Source:JND
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The Supreme Court on Monday junked the West Bengal government's plea against a Calcutta High Court order directing a CBI probe against alleged land-grab and sexual assault cases in Sandeshkhali, news agency ANI reported. Questioning the motives of the Mamata-led state government, the apex court asked "Why was the state trying to protect somebody?"

During the April 29 hearing, the Supreme Court questioned the West Bengal government on why it was acting as a petitioner to "protect the interest" of certain private individuals.

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Notably, the High Court ordered a CBI investigation into all cases related to the sexual exploitation of women, land grabbing, and the ration scam in Sandeshkhali. The West Bengal government challenged this order in the Supreme Court, asserting that the High Court's order had demoralised the entire state machinery, including the police force. TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan is already lodged in jail in the all aforementioned cases.

What Is Sandeshkhali Case:

Sandeshkhali Village, located in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district, has witnessed a fervid political storm with locals, mostly women, accusing TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan of grabbing their lands besides subjecting them to sexual atrocities. 

The issue came to light when a team of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) was thrashed and chased away by Shahjahan Sheikh’s supporters. The federal probe agency team had gone there to conduct raids in an alleged ration distribution scam linked with Shahjahan. Following that incident, local women came out in large numbers, alleging that Shahjahan and his men had seized their lands to set up prawn farms and had been sexually harassing them for years.

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Both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Trinamool Congress have since been trading accusations over the Sandeshkhali incident.