Supreme Court seeks report from West Bengal after plea alleges influence in criminal probe by Calcutta High Court judge

A 64-year-old widow and her daughter have moved the Supreme Court alleging interference in a criminal probe by the lawyer-husband of sitting Calcutta High Court judge Justice Amrita Sinha..The petitioners have claimed that advocate Protap Chandra Dey and his wife Justice Amrita Sinha have misused their position and interfered to thwart the probe in two criminal cases filed by the petitioners against their relatives. .A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti today directed the State Crime Investigation Department (CID) to continue with the investigation without succumbing to any pressure and inform the Court whether there was any interference.The State government of West Bengal was also directed to file a status report on the probe in a sealed cover on the next date of hearing in December..The matter is rooted in a legal battle over certain ancestral property. It is petitioners' claim that a part of the said property was passed down to the widow after her father's death although her elder brother and his family are allegedly making attempts to throw her out of the property. As per the petitioners, the widow was threatened on several occasions to give up the property and even physically beaten, which was stated to have been captured by CCTV cameras. .Therefore, two criminal cases were filed by the widow against her relatives. One of the two cases involves allegations of criminal conspiracy, causing hurt, cheating, forgery, and wrongful restraint. The second involves allegations of attempt to commit culpable homicide, outraging the modesty of a woman, house trespass, causing hurt and criminal intimidation as well Section 25 of the Senior Citizens Act of 2007..The petitioners have alleged that advocate Dey was then engaged by their relatives and that he has been using his clout and exerting pressure on the investigating agency so that the above cases are not investigated properly.It was further argued that owing to such pressure, the probe in the two criminal cases have been brought to a standstill.The petitioners then moved the present plea before the Supreme Court seeking directions to ensure that two criminal complaints are properly investigated without any influence by advocate Dey or his wife, Justice Sinha..Their plea claims that advocate Dey has been "instrumental in dictating the mode and manner in which the investigation, if at all, is to progress, while also exerting influence on account of his spousal status." .The plea further alleges that although the investigation in the cases cited had earlier led to the arrest of one of the accused, it was now being thwarted. In this regard, the petition has alleged that the Investigating Officer was summoned to the official chambers of Justice Sinha and that he was rebuked, reprimanded and ordered to drop the criminal investigation as the matter was purely civil in nature. "The Hon’ble Judge was furious and claimed that police have interfered into a civil dispute and arrested someone who is not at all involved in any criminal activity. Hence, due to the involvement of the Hon’ble Judge, the Respondent No. 5 has not been able to make any further progress in the investigation ... The Petitioners had never heard or imagined that a sitting Judge of the Hon’ble High Court would get involved in a dispute for the sake of her husband’s personal and professional gains," the plea states..Other prayers made by the petitioners include a prayer to direct an inquiry into the alleged actions of advocate Dey and Justice Sinha. Further, the top court has also been urged to direct that adequate police protection is extended to the petitioners. .At today's hearing, the State government submitted that a report was earlier sent to the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court regarding the status of the probe and the allegations made. .The State government argued that it has been conducting the probe fairly and that it is proceeding with caution considering the allegations made by the petitioners. .Justice Amrita Sinha halts live streaming of hearing in school jobs for cash scam: hears case in-camera.Senior Advocate Sanjay Hegde and advocate Nina Nariman appeared for the petitioners. The petition was filed by advocate Mithu Jain.Advocates Sunil Fernandes and Astha Sharma represented the West Bengal government.