A five-judge bench headed by Performing Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal additionally ordered the formation of a particular investigation group (SIT) to probe all different offences associated to the alleged post-poll violence

File picture of the Calcutta Excessive Court docket. Wikimedia Commons

The Calcutta Excessive Court docket on Thursday ordered a CBI probe into grievous circumstances reminiscent of homicide and rape in alleged post-poll violence in West Bengal.

“All circumstances as per the report of NHRC committee the place allegations are about homicide of individual or crime in opposition to girls concerning rape or try and rape shall be referred to CBI for investigation,” the excessive courtroom stated, in keeping with Bar and Bench. The courtroom ordered the state handy over all information of circumstances to the CBI in order that it could actually perform the investigation.

The SIT will include law enforcement officials from West Bengal. The three IPS officers are:

Suman Bala Sahoo, Director Normal (Telecommunications)
Soumen Mitra, Kolkata Police Commissioner
Ranbir Kumar, ADG ranked officer

It directed the Central company to file a report on its investigation within the subsequent six weeks. The matter will likely be heard once more on 4 October, 2021.

The working of SIT will likely be overviewed by a retired choose of Supreme Court docket on which a separate order will likely be handed later after taking the consent of the involved choose, the courtroom stated as per Bar and Bench.

Three separate however concurring judgments had been delivered by a Bench of Performing Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justices IP Mukerji, Harish Tandon, Soumen Sen and Subrata Talukdar.

Quite a lot of petitioners had moved the excessive courtroom earlier this 12 months, alleging widespread post-poll violence within the state after the Trinamool Congress’ return to energy on 2 Could.

The Nationwide Human Rights Fee (NHRC) had shaped a committee on the path of the excessive courtroom to probe the assorted complaints of post-poll violence in West Bengal. In its report, the panel indicted the Mamata Banerjee-led authorities and known as for the investigation to be handed over to the CBI.

“The committee has really useful that grievous offences like homicide, rape, and so forth ought to be handed over to the CBI for investigation and these circumstances ought to be tried exterior the state,” the report, submitted earlier than the courtroom on June 13, stated.

First reactions: TMC sad with verdict whereas BJP welcomes it

The excessive courtroom’s order has not gone down nicely with the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC authorities, which is more likely to transfer the Supreme Court docket.

“I’m sad with the decision. If in each legislation and order matter, which is solely inside state authorities’s jurisdiction, the CBI is available in, it’s a transgression on state’s proper. I’m positive state authorities will choose the state of affairs & take a call to attraction to a better courtroom if needed,” TMC MP Saugata Roy advised ANI.

In the meantime, BJP Normal Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya welcomed the decision.

Publish-poll violence in West Bengal passed off underneath the safety of the state authorities. The order by the Calcutta Excessive Court docket has uncovered the federal government. We welcome the courtroom order: BJP Normal Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya

(File photograph) pic.twitter.com/zJNQ1cG1XC

— ANI (@ANI) August 19, 2021

Even Union minister Anurag Thakur welcomed the decision, saying, “In a democracy, everybody has the best to unfold their ideology however nobody’s allowed to unfold violence. There isn’t a place for violence in democracy.”

With inputs from PTI

Publisher