The high court on Monday restrained the CBI from taking any coercive action till August 31 against Trinamool Congress MLA Paresh Paul and two party councillors in connection with the murder of BJP worker Avijit Sarkar.
Justice Jay Sengupta fixed August 21 to hear the petitions moved by Paul and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) councillors — Papiya Ghosh and Swapan Samaddar — seeking anticipatory bail and quashing of the proceedings against them by the agency.
“The CBI is restrained from taking any coercive measures against the petitioners till the court passes any order in connection with the case,” the judge said.
Avijit was fatally assaulted by a mob on May 2, 2021, after the Assembly election results were announced and Trinamool was voted back to power. He was a BJP leader in the Narkeldanga area.
The central agency submitted the second supplementary chargesheet on June 30 before the Sealdah court bearing 18 names, including that of Paul, Samaddar and Ghosh.
The CBI lawyer had told the court that Avijit’s brother had called the police station for help when Avijit was being beaten, but no help arrived.
The city police have initiated a separate probe against Paul, Samaddar and Ghosh after Biswajit Sarkar, the brother of Avijit, lodged a complaint on July 24 alleging that three KMC workers tried to kill him at the behest of Paul, Samaddar and Ghosh.