The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) challenging the Chhattisgarh Police probe into an FIR alleging a broader conspiracy in the 2013 Jheeram Ghati Naxal attack, which claimed the lives of 29 people, including state Congress leaders.
A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, stated, “Sorry, we would not like to interfere. Dismissed.”
Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, representing the NIA, argued that the agency should handle the investigation into the larger conspiracy angle since the primary FIR is under the scrutiny of the Central agency. He informed the bench that when the Chhattisgarh Police refused to share records with the NIA, the agency approached the trial court, which rejected the plea.
The ASG added that the high court also dismissed the plea against the trial court order on March 2, 2022. He emphasized that when the NIA is investigating the main case, another agency cannot probe a separate FIR related to the same incident.
On the other hand, senior advocate ANS Nadkarni and advocate Sumeer Sodhi, representing the Chhattisgarh government, noted that the state initially asked the NIA to investigate the larger conspiracy angle, but the NIA declined.
When the Centre refused to hand over the probe to the CBI, the state government decided to have the police register the FIR and investigate the larger conspiracy angle.
It is to be informed that the bench also heard from the counsel for complainant Jitendra Mudaliar, on whose complaint the FIR was lodged.
On May 25, 2013, Naxals targeted a convoy of Congress leaders in Jheeram valley, Darbha area of Bastar district, resulting in the deaths of 29 people.
Among the victims were the state Congress chief at the time, Nand Kumar Patel, former leader of opposition Mahendra Karma, and former Union minister Vidyacharan Shukla.
The brutal ambush by heavily armed Naxals occurred during the political campaigning for the assembly elections. Congress leaders were returning after participating in a ‘Parivartan rally’ in Bastar district.
