The Calcutta High Court on Thursday called for a court-monitored Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the cases of murder and rape that allegedly took place during post-poll violence in West Bengal. The other cases will be investigated by a Special Investigation Team (SIT), the court ordered.
“All cases as per report of NHRC committee where allegations are about murder of person or crime against women regarding rape or attempt to rape shall be referred to CBI for investigation,” A five-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court said, according to Bar and Bench. The court ordered the state to hand over all records of cases to the CBI so that it can carry out the investigation.
“It shall be a court-monitored investigation and any obstruction in the course of investigation by anyone shall be viewed seriously,” the court added.
The SIT, set up for the court-monitored probe, will comprise three IPS officers — Suman Bala Sahoo, Soumen Mitra and Ranvir Kumar, Bar and Bench reported. The team’s functioning will be overseen by a retired Supreme Court judge. The bench — comprising Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal, Justice IP Mukerji, Justice Harish Tandon, Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Subrata Talukdar — ordered the West Bengal Government to process the compensation for the victims and rejected the state government’s allegation that the investigation conducted by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) was biased.
The bench had earlier ordered the chairman of the NHRC to constitute an inquiry committee to probe accusations of human rights violations during the “post-poll violence”. In its report, the panel indicted the Mamata Banerjee-led government and called for the investigation to be handed over to the CBI.
The report strongly criticised the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government for allegedly failing to stem the violence that erupted after its emphatic victory in the Assembly polls. The TMC secured a landslide mandate, bagging 213 of the 292 seats for which polling was held in eight phases. The BJP won just 77 seats.
Later, in a 95-page affidavit submitted to the Calcutta High Court on post-poll violence in West Bengal, the Mamata Banerjee government has alleged that the NHRC committee that probed the matter “was fraught with bias against the ruling dispensation”. It alleged that the members of the NHRC probe team share close ties with BJP leaders.
The case will now be placed before a Division Bench for dealing with other issues in the NHRC committee report and other proceedings, Bar and Bench reported.
