The Supreme Court on Thursday overturned a Calcutta High Court ruling that had transferred the investigation into the attack on Union Minister of State Nisith Pramanik’s convoy to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
A bench comprised of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chadrachud, along with Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala, asked the Calcutta High Court to take a fresh approach to the matter.
“The High Court will reconsider whether West Bengal Police investigate the incident or whether it is appropriate for transfer to the CBI. We grant the appeal, set aside the March 28 order of the Calcutta High Court, and restore the case to the High Court,” the order stated.
The Court opined that the High Court did not consider the full of the record presented by the State, including an additional affidavit outlining steps taken by police authorities.
“According to the affidavit, another case was filed against 30 people based on a CIST complaint. The following are the steps that were performed in response to the FIR. The above material was presented to the High Court, and the High Court was informed of 21 arrests. The High Court made no mention of any of the above sections in its decision,” it stated.
The High Court had ordered the investigation while highlighting that the State Police might get engaged because allegations had been made against the State’s ruling party.
The High Court had transferred the inquiry while emphasising that because claims had been made against the State’s ruling party, the State Police might not conduct a fair investigation.
“Because the allegations are against workers of the State’s ruling party, the possibility that State Police may not fairly carry out the investigation cannot be denied, especially when the other side is the workers of the State’s principal political opposition party,” the Division Bench noted.
The High Court relied heavily on the fact that, despite the fact that the incident occurred on February 25, cases were filed on February 26 and 27. Furthermore, according to a police report dated March 3, the inquiry was still in its early stages.
“As a result, the report supports the petitioner’s plea that the State police authorities are unlikely to conduct a fair investigation in the matter,” it stated.
Suvendu Adhikari, a member of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly and the state opposition leader, filed the petition before the High Court.
He claimed that the police officers present at the scene did nothing to stop the culprits, and that as a result, supporters of the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress party attacked the opposition BJP’s party office.
