Ram Navami Violence: WB Govt Moves SC Against HC Order For NIA Investigation

The Supreme Court on Thursday heard the petition filed by the State of West Bengal against Calcutta High Court order transferring the investigation in the cases related to Ram Navami violence to National Investigation Agency (NIA).

A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice PS Narasimha, and Justice JB Pardiwala decided to continue hearing the case tomorrow i.e.,19th May, 2023.

Senior Advocate Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the State Government, stated that the NIA Act cannot be invoked for ordinary cases of violence unless it threatens the country’s security or sovereignty.

The bench did note, however, that the Explosive Substances Act of 1908 is a scheduled offence under the NIA Act, and the High Court ruled that the police purposefully failed to invoke this statute in the FIRs filed in connection with the violence.

According to Advocate Singhvi, there is no instance of using explosives in order to invoke the Explosive Substances Act.

“There was not a single bomb. No usage of that”, Singhvi stated. He claimed that the High Court issued the order in response to a politically motivated PIL filed by opposition leader Suvendhu Adhikari. He requested an urgent hearing, claiming that the NIA had summoned state police officers.

Senior Advocate PS Patwalia, representing Adhikari, opposed the stay of the HC order. The bench eventually decided to hear the case tomorrow.

On April 27, a bench of Acting Chief Justice T. S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya passed the impugned order after observing that miscreants were using explosives to disrupt Ram Navami processions.

The High Court observed that there appeared to be a deliberate attempt by the concerned police not to register any offence under the provisions of the Explosives Substances Act, “fighting shy of resorting to the procedure required to be complied with under Section 6(1) of the NIA Act.”

The bench also observed that during the violence, the mob became enraged and assaulted the police with bamboo sticks, threw bricks at the police, damaged one government vehicle, and then set fire to another vehicle, and when mild force was used to disperse the mob, they became even more enraged and began to assault police personnel with bamboo sticks, iron rods, stones, bricks, swords, and displaying firearms with the intent to kill police personnel, however, in the seizure list, only glass bottles and sticks and other weapons found mention.