Manish Shukla murder case: Bengal CID submits probe progress report to Calcutta HC

A division bench comprising justices Sanjib Banerjee and Arijit Banerjee directed the West Bengal government to file an affidavit-in-opposition to a petition seeking transfer of the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from the state CID. The CID filed the report before the division bench in a sealed cover indicating the progress made in the probe and the steps taken, as per the previous direction of the court.

The West Bengal Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on Friday submitted to the Calcutta High Court a report on the progress of the investigation into the killing of BJP leader Manish Shukla and the steps taken so far. A division bench comprising justices Sanjib Banerjee and Arijit Banerjee directed the West Bengal government to file an affidavit-in-opposition to a petition seeking transfer of the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from the state CID.

The CID filed the report before the division bench in a sealed cover indicating the progress made in the probe and the steps taken, as per the previous direction of the court. The court directed that the affidavit-in-opposition be filed a week before the next hearing on the matter on November 10.

Hearing a PIL filed by lawyer Priyanka Tibrewal seeking the CBI probe, the court directed that an advance copy of the affidavit should be forwarded to the advocate for the petitioner at least seven days prior to the next date of hearing. Affidavit-in-reply, if any, may be filed a day before the matter is taken up, the court directed.

The petitioner has prayed that the investigation into the killing be carried out by an independent and central investigating agency like the CBI, which is outside the control of the state administration, for a free and fair probe. Shukla was shot dead in Titagarh in North 24 Parganas district on October 4.