Calcutta High Court Bench of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha, stayed the State police investigation and instead ordered a CBI probe in the matter of alleged extortion of truckers at Haldia Port, it further rejected the State's plea to allow a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to be entrusted with the investigation.
Background:-
In July, 2021 a case of extortion was registered at the Haldia Police station wherein an individual named Shyamal Adak was named as the principal accused. Sk. Mobarak Ali, complainant, alleged that in the year 2018, the accused used to collect by extortion a sum of Rs. 100 per truck to allow loading of coal at the Haldia Dock. Once, when the petitioner refused to pay up, he was not allowed to load his truck, which was then allowed on payment of Rs. 100. After this incident, the complainant was not hired by the consignees, which affected his business. Therefore, a complaint was filed.
Petitioner filed for bail which was allowed on July 19 of 2021. An IO applied for cancellation of bail on July 28, 2021 stating that he is threatening the witnesses, following which it was cancelled by the magistrate. This was challenged in the Sessions Court, wherein a dissatisfaction was expressed at the manner of investigation.
Accused filed a writ petition in this Court challenging the proceedings, wherein he was granted protection against coercive actions. State challenged this order before the Supreme Court, which was rejected and the case was transferred back to Calcutta HC.
Following that, on February 20, 22 a Coordinate Bench of this Court expressed disapproval with how the concerned Magistrate had granted bail in the first place on July 19, 2021. As a result, the Coordinate Bench refused to prolong the interim order of stay and remanded the case to be considered in conjunction with the current writ petition.
Order:-
Firstly, the Court thrashed State Police for the delay in lodging the FIR. Secondly, it was opined that there is no evidence that the petitioner is intimidating any witnesses. It was also highlighted that the petitioner was never served with a notice under Section 41A of the CrPC, which is a blatant breach of the Supreme Court's decision in Arnesh Kumar v. State of Bihar.
Justice Mantha went on to say that the State machinery has been “acting carelessly” and that an inquiry into such a serious topic is not being carried out appropriately. It was also observed that the primary accused is being shielded from coercive methods and has not been adequately interrogated up to this point.
Taking a strong stance against the concerned IO and magistrate for turning the probe into a farce, the court observed that, “The accused has not been interrogated for over 7 months since 17th of July, 2021. The sudden need for custodial interrogation is therefore suspiciously vague and motivated. The IO only appears to be overzealous in taking the accused into custody. The need for interrogation of the other accused is not indicated by the State. The IO and ACJM have reduced the investigation to a mockery.”
As a result, the Judge mandated the petitioner’s release from custody. Furthermore, the Court ordered that the affidavit in objection be made within 4 weeks and the reply, ifany, be filed within 2 weeks.
The case is set to be heard in 6 weeks.
Case Details:-
Case title:- Rajib Paul v. The State of West Bengal and Anr
Bench:- Justice Rajasekhar Mantha
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