In a setback to the West Bengal government, the Supreme Court on Monday declined to interfere with the Calcutta High Court order handing over to National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into six FIRs relating to violence including hurling of bombs on Ram Navmi processions in the State between March 30 and April 2.
Noting that there was no challenge to the Central government notification handing over the investigation to National Investigation Agency, a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, Justice J B Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra declined to entertain the West Bengal government’s plea and dismissed it.
Dismissing the plea by the West Bengal government, the bench said that the Central government acted in pursuance to the April 28, Calcutta High Court order taking recourse to its suo motu powers under the NIA Act and handed over the probe to the investigating agency.
“The precise contours of investigation which should be carried out by the NIA cannot be anticipated at this stage. In this back particularly in the absence of challenge to the notification, we are not inclined to entertain this SpecialLeave Petition,” the bench said in its order.
However, the bench clarified that the observations made by the high court be limited to investigation by the NIA.
The top court order limiting the High court observation to the handing over the investigation in six FIRs to NIA appears to accommodate submission by senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan telling the court that High Court observation in the handing of the case by the police has a demoralising effect of the State police.
Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for west Bengal government, said that six FIRs that were registered by the State police related to different incidents at different places at different points of time. He said that the smoke guns and tear gas shells were used to quell the violent crowds and the same are being projected as explosives.
He said that since no bombs or explosives were hurled at religious rallies , the police did not invoke the Explosive Act.
However, senior advocate P S Patwalia appearing for BJP leader Suvendhu Adhikari said that the bombs and explosives were widely hurled at the religious processions and police did not mention them in the FIRs.