HC: CBI, SIT to probe post-poll violence in Bengal
THE HIGH COURT ALSO DIRECTED THE MAMATA BANERJEE GOVERNMENT TO PAY COMPENSATION TO THE VICTIMS
KOLKATA: The Calcutta high court on Thursday ordered separate probes by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the state police into alleged post-poll violence in West Bengal this year.
A five-judge bench headed by acting chief justice Rajesh Bindal said CBI will probe the serious allegations of rape and murder and a three-member SIT those of arson and loot, under the court’s supervision.
“All the cases where, as per the report of the committee, the allegations are about murder and crime against women regarding rape and attempt to rape, shall be transferred to CBI for investigation. It is made clear that it shall be a court-monitored investigation,” the order stated.
The investigation of SIT, comprising three senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officers Soumen Mitra (commissioner of Kolkata Police), Suman Bala Sahoo (director general-communication) and Ranveer Kumar (additional director general-administration) will also be monitored by the court and overseen by a retired judge of the Supreme Court.
The high court also directed the Mamata Banerjee government to pay compensation to the victims of violence directly into their bank accounts after due verification.
The state has said it will appeal the verdict.
“I don’t see it as a setback. It is a judgment passed. If the litigant, which in this case is the state, finds that the verdict is not in its interest or beyond law, we have the right to challenge. We are waiting for the order. We will
definitely move the Supreme Court,” said Sanjay Basu, advocate who appeared for the DGP of West Bengal along with senior advocates including Abhishek Manu Singhvi. He added the observations in the order are not correct.
Soon after the results of the elections were declared on May 2, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) made allegations of widespread post-poll violence from across the state. With petitions filed in the immediate aftermath, the high court took cognisance and in June, the court asked the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to form a seven member committee “considering the fact that there was blatant violation of human rights besides violation of other rights of the victims”. The committee submitted its final report on July 13 recommending a CBI probe, and that trials should be held outside the state.
The committee said at least 1,934 complaints were lodged with the state police between May 2 and June 20. They included 29 complaints related to murder, 12 to rape and sexual assault, and 940 of loot and arson.