West Bengal Govt Moves SC Against Calcutta HC Order on Post-Poll Violence Cases

The Calcutta High Court on Thursday, 19 August, ordered a court-monitored CBI probe into cases of murder and crimes against women, such as rape, that took place during the West Bengal post-poll violence. Image used for representational purposes. 

(Photo: Kamran Akhter/The Quint)

The West Bengal government on Wednesday, 1 September, moved the Supreme Court against a Calcutta High Court order calling for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into alleged cases of violence that took place in the aftermath of polls in the state.

According to IANS, the plea is 774-page long and contends that the committee, appointed by the NHRC Chairperson to examine cases of alleged human rights violations, consisted of members who are either members of the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) or are known to be closely associated with them.

The high court had, on 19 August, ordered a court-monitored CBI probe into cases of murder and crimes against women, such as rape, that took place during the West Bengal post-poll violence.

Three concurring, albeit separate, judgments were given by a bench of Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justices IP Mukerji, Harish Tandon, Soumen Sen, and Subrata Talukdar.

MORE DETAILS

Observing that the ruling government cannot act in a discriminatory manner in a bid to suppress minority, the Calcutta High Court said that Bengal should hand over all records of cases to the CBI for the purpose of the investigation.

All other cases have been entrusted to an SIT for investigation, which will also be monitored by the court and will comprise IPS officers Suman Bala Sahoo, Soumen Mitra, and Ranbir Kumar.

Both the CBI and the SIT have been directed to submit status reports within six weeks. Meanwhile, the state has been ordered to cooperate with CBI and the other authorities, LiveLaw reported.

BACKGROUND

In a report submitted in July, the NHRC had said that the post-poll violence in the state had "resulted in disruption of life and livelihood of thousands of people and their economic strangulation" and that the situation in the state is a manifestation of the "Law of Ruler", instead of "Rule of Law".

However, the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) government submitted an affidavit at the Calcutta High Court to refute the report submitted to the court, saying that the report "demonstrated bias" and had no power to suggest any probe.

(With inputs from LiveLaw and Bar and Bench)