SC orders NIA probe into West Bengal gherao case
The Supreme Court on Monday asked the National Investigation Agency to complete within two months its probe into the April 1 violence in West Bengal’s Malda district, in which a mob confined seven judicial officers for nine hours.
A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said the NIA should file its report before the court of competent jurisdiction after completing the investigation.
“What is the position of investigation? Is it complete?” the bench asked.
Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the NIA, said he would file a detailed status report.
“We are, however, of the view that let the NIA complete the investigation at the earliest, preferably within a period of two months...,” the bench said.
“You file your charge sheet. The law will take its own course,” it observed. On April 24, the top court permitted the NIA to file its charge sheet on completion of the investigation in the case.
As many as 700 judicial officers from West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand were deployed in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process to deal with over 60 lakh objections of those excluded from the voter list.
The top court had taken suo motu cognisance of a letter from the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court detailing the harrowing events of the night of April 1, when seven judicial officers, including three women, and a five-year-old child were held captive by a mob for over nine hours without food or water.
The NIA later took over the probe into the case on a complaint of the Election Commission at the instruction of the top court.
On April 13, the bench made it clear that the security cover provided to judicial officers engaged in the SIR of electoral rolls in West Bengal would remain in place until the conclusion of the assembly election and cannot be withdrawn without its prior permission.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Monday said former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and others can file fresh applications regarding their claim that the victory margins were less than the deletion of votes during the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in various Assembly constituencies.
The Election Commission opposed the submissions, saying that the remedy was an election petition, and the poll panel can be held accountable for issues related to the SIR and the consequential appeals against the addition or deletion of votes.
