During the hearing, lawyer Biswarup Mukherjee approached the single-judge Bench, saying he represented Sheikh. “My client wants to be a party in this case,” Mukherjee said. To which, Justice Sengupta said: “Why has your client not surrendered?”

Justice Sengupta also told the lawyer that his client should cooperate with ED.

It is to be noted that Sheikh has been absconding since the attack on ED officials. Though he has not been named in the FIR registered by West Bengal Police on ED’s complaint regarding the attack, the central agency has issued a look-out notice against the TMC leader in connection with its probe into the alleged irregularities in the public distribution system, also referred to as ration ‘scam’.

Noting that a counsel approached the court claiming to represent the accused Sheikh, Justice Sengupta observed that he did not present the necessary vakalatnama.

Justice Sengupta then directed that in the event the counsel was able to procure a vakalatnama, he would be at liberty to file an application for making his client a party in the case.

Earlier while hearing the ED’s petition, Advocate General Kishore Dutta, representing the West Bengal Police, informed the court that four persons have been arrested in connection with the attack on ED officials.

On the other hand, ED’s lawyers — SV Raju and Dhiraj Trivedi — told the court that despite a murderous attack that left three of its officials injured, police at Nazat Police Station registered an FIR under “milder sections” of the IPC.