The Union government has suggested to the Calcutta High Court that it is ready to hand over the probe of the post-poll violence in West Bengal to either the CBI or the NIA. While the National Human Rights Commission has recommended a CBI investigation, the NIA's name has raised several eyebrows.
On July 3, the five-member division bench of Calcutta High Court said that the judgment was being reserved. Sources in the court have confirmed that the order could be pronounced by middle of next week.
The controversial hearing lasted for around three months, during which the Calcutta High Court ordered the NHRC to submit a complete report on the allegation of retributive violence in West Bengal following the declaration of results of election on May 2.
The court wanted to know how many cases of violence happened between May 2 and May 5 and how many took place after May 5, the day Mamata Banerjee took oath as chief minister for the third time.
The NHRC had formed a seven-member team, led by the former Intelligence Bureau chief Rajiv Jain, which submitted a 2,000-page report, which said that more than 50 people have been murdered and around 23 females have been raped and many other subjected to molestation. The West Bengal government denied that there was any rape and said the toll is 13.
The panel had slammed the state government, calling the situation in West Bengal a “manifestation of law of ruler instead of rule of law”, and had recommended a CBI probe into “grievous offences like murder and rape”.
In response, Banerjee had flayed the NHRC for “disrespecting the court” and pursuing “political vendetta” of the BJP by leaking its report to the media. In its affidavit submitted to court, the state government said the report is full of blatant lies, and said that Jain and other members of the probe committee have had links with the BJP in the past.
What surprised many, however, is the submission of the additional solicitor general today in the court, mentioning that either the CBI or the NIA may be asked to take over the investigation. NIA usually is engaged to probe terror attacks or terror-links.
So, is it an indicator of a terror angle? Said a senior officer of the central armed police force stationed in Kolkata, “NIA can be entrusted the job as violence took place in border areas and so, the Bangladesh link cannot be ruled out. The people who carried out violence, have been provided resources by some outsiders. The instances of violence were all organised.”
Senior advocate of the Calcutta High Court, Arindam Das, found the Centre's proposal surprising.
“What would NIA do here? No one can deny that violence took place. But was RDX found or did IED blast take place? Has there been any terror link? I am surprised. I would wait for the order of the court,” Das said.
Meanwhile, state minister Jyotipriyo Mullick has appealed to the Calcutta High Court to delete his name as an offender mentioned by the NHRC. “My prestige and dignity both suffered a jolt,” said Mullick. At least 50 TMC leaders across the state have been mentioned in the NHRC report.
