Calcutta HC orders stay on CBI probe in Bengal panchayat election document tampering case

The Central Bureau of Investigation will not be able to take any action in the case of document tampering during the Bengal Panchayat elections. A division bench of the Calcutta High Court stayed the investigation while hearing the case on Friday.

Justice Arijit Banerjee and Justice Apurba Singh Roy will deliver the verdict in the matter next Monday at 2 pm.

A state government employee has been accused of tampering with election documents. The two candidates approached the Calcutta High Court alleging that the Block Development Officer (BDO) tampered with the nomination papers.

Justice Amrita Singh on Wednesday ordered a CBI probe into the matter. In his order, the judge said the CBI would have to submit the investigation report to the court on July 7.
The state and the State Election Commission on Thursday moved a division bench of the Calcutta High Court challenging the CBI probe order. State counsel Kalyan Banerjee sought an early hearing in the matter.

Justice Bandyopadhyay and Justice Singh Roy said on Thursday that the matter would be heard on Friday. It is alleged that no action was taken even after BDO complained. Justice Amrita Singh ordered the CBI to investigate the matter. The bench ordered a temporary stay.

Earlier, Justice Singh upheld Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay's order and ordered a CBI probe into the Municipal Corporation recruitment corruption case. Trinamool All India General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee may also be questioned by Justice Gangopadhyay in the Kuntal Ghosh letter case, but Justice Singh upheld the decision even after the bench was changed.

Let us tell you that along with the violence in the Bengal Panchayat elections, there has been a lot of hue and cry over the issue of Central Corps deployment. The constitutional crisis had already occurred earlier. Along with this, after the Calcutta High Court ordered a CBI probe, even more trouble faced the state government.

Now the state government got relief from a division bench of the Calcutta High Court, which stayed the CBI probe into the panchayat elections for the time being, and the state election commission also got a breather.