West Bengal Post-Poll Violence: State Govt Approaches Supreme Court To Oppose CBI Probe Into Case

In the post-election violence case in West Bengal, the Supreme Court has asked the state government to submit a brief note against the CBI investigation.

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West Bengal Post-Poll Violence: State Govt Approaches Supreme Court To Oppose CBI Probe Into CaseThe State government said that this order was based on a report by the National Human Rights Commission team. It alleged that the team members were prejudiced against the State government. Arguing before the Bench of Justice Vineet Saran and Aniruddha Bose, Mamata Banerjee government's lawyer Kapil Sibal said, "The Human Rights Commission's investigation team was like the BJP's investigation team. BJP's Mahila Morcha leader was also included in it".

Report submitted without properly listening to the state government's objections: Sibal

He added, "The High Court also did not decide how the investigating team would collect information. The case was handed over to CBI and SIT on the commission's report without properly listening to the objections of the state government." To this, the Judges asked Sibal to submit a brief note. In this note, the names of the members of the investigating team and the objection of the state government to it should be mentioned. The court also asked the defendant to submit a brief note on the matter. With this instruction, the hearing was postponed to Monday, September 20.

On August 19, the Calcutta High Court directed the CBI to take over the investigation of the West Bengal violence. The SIT was also formed. The High Court had said that the CBI will investigate the murder and rape cases. The rest of the cases will be investigated by the SIT.

The High Court had asked the state government to give compensation to the victims of violence. It also sought a status report from CBI and SIT within 6 weeks.

More than 30 FIRs registered in case

The CBI has so far registered more than 30 FIRs in the case. Many people have also been arrested. The Mamata government in the state has now opposed the investigation saying that the High Court handed over the investigation to the CBI on the basis of a unilateral report of the National Human Rights Commission. The state police were investigating the case responsibly. But the High Court ignored the state government's arguments.