Calcutta, July 25: Calcutta High Court today told the CBI to “settle the issue” with the government over initiating proceedings against six police officers the investigating agency has named in connection with the 2007 Nandigram firing.

“The investigating agency will have to settle the issue with the government for initiating proceedings against the police officers,” the division bench of Justices Ashim Kumar Banerjee and Mrinal Kanti Chowdhury said.

The court also asked the CBI to submit a progress report on the case on September 17, the next date of hearing.

The central investigating agency has alleged in the past few hearings that it has not been able to take action against the six police officers as the state government has not been cooperating with it.

Today, CBI counsel Sheikh Ashraf Ali told the bench: “The state government is imposing several conditions before allowing us to start proceedings.”

He added: “The government told my client to implicate some of the political personalities who were running the government at the time of firing.”

Although the CBI counsel did not name the “political personalities”, sources said the government had asked the agency why then chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and CPM MP Lakshman Seth were not made accused in the case.

The March 2007 firing had killed 14 persons.

Ashraf Ali said the government’s non-cooperation had “stalled” the investigation.

Government pleader Ashok Banerjee did not speak.

Refusing to buy the argument, Justice Banerjee said: “An investigating agency cannot place such excuses before the court. Your client will have to find out a way and settle the issue with the government.”

The CBI has named IPS officers Ganji Anil Srinivas, Arun Gupta and N.R. Babu, additional superintendents of police Satayajit Banerjee and Debasish Boral and the then officer in charge of Nandigram police station, Shekhar Roy, in its report.