New Delhi: The much-awaited hearing by the Calcutta High Court with regard post-poll violence in West Bengal has been completed.
After a lengthy hearing on Tuesday, August 3, the Bench said the arguments of all parties have been ‘heard’ and the order is reserved.
Appearing on behalf the central government, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Y. Jehangir Dastoor told the court that if the Lordships direct any central investigating agency can take up the probe “of some of the serious offences”.
“….We are ready to do that,” he said adding the centre’s role could be to assist the state government.
“The NIA or the CBI can be called upon to investigate if your Lordships preferred,” said Dastoor. Advocate General Kishore Dutta, appearing for the West Bengal government, told the Bench: “The state police acted. Whenever the police came to know of complaints, they had taken action. It is not that the police was completely inactive”.
The Bench also wanted to know whether it will be ‘appropriate time’ now to transfer all the complaints to a central agency, according to sources.
A five-Judge Bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal is hearing the case.
On June 18, the High Court had directed the state government to ensure that there is “no obstruction” of any kind in the investigation process (by NHRC team) and that any obstruction shall be viewed seriously, sources said.
A team of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) asked to probe post-poll violence in West Bengal was attacked when it went to Jadavpur area, a known Trinamool Congress bastion, in Kolkata.
The team, led by NHRC member and National Commission For Minorities Vice Chairman Atif Rasheed, had gone to Jadavpur (29 June) to probe violence against BJP supporters and their houses had been looted and ransacked.
They were heckled allegedly by Trinamool workers and supporters.
Sources have earlier said the NHRC report on the post-poll violence that rendered scores of voters from West Bengal homeless and were also killed had said among other things that the trial on the case should be shifted out of Kolkata and that there could be a CBI probe as well.
“The situation in West Bengal is a manifestation of law of the ruler instead of rule of law,” the rights panel has reportedly said.
During the hearing, counsels for petitioners also said that an investigation by an independent SIT is required.
“The fact that there was violence cannot be disputed,” said one of the petitioner’s plea.
It has been strongly argued that while the Election Commission is not responsible for general lawand order situation in a state; the West Bengal government has shirked its responsibility “by stating that the new government came to power only on May 5”.
Advocate Sai Deepak told the court on behalf of petitioners that the claims of the state government that affected families have been affected can be ‘disputed’.
During the hearing on Monday, counsel Kapil Sibal who represented the state police had opposed the prayer of the petitioners, claiming that the NHRC report was baseless, and politically motivated. He claimed that the NHRC committee did not follow the procedure for recording prima facie findings.
In its report submitted to the five-judge Bench of the court on July 13, the NHRC committee had said that the alleged post-post violence “was retributive violence by supporters of the ruling party against supporters of the main opposition party”, and recommended a CBI probe into “grievous offences like rape and murder”.
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