The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that sought an investigation by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by a retired Supreme Court judge or the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the July 13 incident in Patna.
The incident involved the death of Vijay Singh, a BJP leader during a protest against the Nitish Kumar government.
A bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice Dipankar Datta directed the petitioner to approach the Patna High Court.
“The high courts are constitutional courts. Their power under Article 226 of the Constitution is enormous. They being the local high court can monitor and constitute SIT with competent officers if they find local police is not working properly,” the bench stated.
Sensing the disinclination of the bench, the petitioner withdrew the case and the matter was dismissed as withdrawn.
The Supreme Court requested the high court to expedite the matter and make a prompt decision. It clarified that it has not expressed any opinion on the merits of the case.
The incident in question involved the death of Vijay Singh, a BJP leader from Jehanabad district, during a ‘Vidhan Sabha march.’ While party leaders alleged that he died due to a brutal lathicharge by the police, the Patna district administration stated in a brief statement that “no injury marks” were found on his body.
The march, organized in support of agitations against the state government’s teacher recruitment policy, began from Patna’s Gandhi Maidan and was halted a few kilometers away from the assembly premises.
The petition, filed in the apex court by Bhupesh Narayan, a resident of Bihar, sought an investigation into the role played by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, and other officials, including the state’s police chief, for allegedly “protecting the real perpetrators” of the incident.
“The police is under a constitutional obligation to uphold the rule of law and maintain law and order,” said the plea. “In a democratic country, peaceful procession or march or demonstration against the government policy is a well recognised method of protest,” it added.
According to the petition, the members of the procession were suddenly surrounded by the police in a pre-planned manner, and batons, water cannons, and teargas shells were used, resulting in a chaotic situation. It alleged that “police brutality and atrocity” led to the death of Vijay Singh.
