Appearing before Justice Harish Tandon, government counsel Manjit Singh submitted that the murder of Sagar Ghosh last year appeared to be a case of political rivalry.
Singh submitted that the SIT was yet to find any evidence to co-relate alleged inflammatory statements made by Anubrata Mondal a few days before the murder and the killing itself.
Birbhum district Trinamool Congress president Anubrata Mandal is one of the 41 accused in the murder of Sagar Ghosh, who won as an independent the panchayat elections after allegedly being denied ticket by Trinamool Congress, in July 2013 at Parui in Birbhum district.
Justice Tandon directed the state government to file an affidavit on an application for the investigation to be carried out by a neutral agency.
The matter would be taken up for hearing again on August 19.