The Supreme Court on Monday lambasted West Bengal government for opposing the CBI investigation into the Sandeshkhali case and questioned why should the state “protect the interest of some private individuals?”

The top court’s observation came while hearing the state government's plea challenging the Calcutta High Court's April 10 order which directed a CBI investigation into allegations of crimes against women and land grabbing in Sandeshkhali.

The apex court questioned: "Why should the state come in as a petitioner for protecting the interest of some private individuals?"

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The counsel appearing for the state said it was aggrieved by some comments made in the high court order."There are comments about the state government and that is unfair because the state government has taken full action," the counsel said.

Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, who appeared for the state, reportedly said at the outset that the matter may be taken up after a couple of week because they have some very important information which they want to file.

The bench posted the matter for hearing in July.

In its plea before the apex court, the state government has said the high court's order demoralised the entire state machinery, including the police force.

The CBI is already investigating the case of attack on the Enforcement Directorate(ED) officials in Sandeshkhali and has registered three FIRs related to incidents on January 5.

The high court had also directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate allegations of crimes against women and land grabbing in Sandeshkhali and submit a comprehensive report to it on the next date of hearing.

Sandeshkhali case:

West Bengal’s Sandeshkhali village in North 24 Parganas district witnessed sporadic protests against TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan and his aides after the complaints of sexual violence and land grab against them.

Shahjahan also went absconding for sometime before he was arrested by ED from a house in Minakhan in North 24 Parganas district, where he was hiding.