Petitioner files caveat in SC over Calcutta HC order for CBI probe into WB post-poll violence
Aug 20, 2021
Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], August 20 : Petitioner-advocate Anindya Sundar Das has filed a caveat application in Supreme Court in connection with the Calcutta High Court order for a court-monitored Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into post-poll violence following the Assembly election in West Bengal.
A Caveat application is filed by a litigant to ensure that no adverse order is passed against him or her without being heard.
"I have filed a caveat application in the Supreme Court that I should be heard in case West Bengal government files an appeal against the High Court order," Das told ANI.
On Thursday, the High Court while observing that there are "definite and proved" allegations that complaints of the victims of violence in the aftermath of the West Bengal Assembly polls were not even registered, it ordered a CBI investigation in all alleged cases of heinous crimes like rape and murder.
For other cases involving post-poll violence, a five-judge bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal has constituted a special investigation team (SIT) of three senior IPS officers of the West Bengal cadre.
A seven-member committee set up by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had earlier looked into the incidents of violence following the West Bengal Assembly elections and recommended a court-monitored CBI probe.
The NHRC in its report on the alleged post-election violence in West Bengal submitted to Calcutta High Court stated that "Spatio-temporal expanse of violent incidents in the state reflects appalling apathy of the state government towards the plight of victims".
The High Court while accepting the recommendations of an NHRC panel for CBI probe, said the Court will monitor the investigations by both the CBI and the SIT and asked the two agencies to submit status reports to the court within six weeks.
Several Public Interest Litigations (PILs) were filed before the High Court and urged for investigation into violence. The pleas cited that hundreds had been subjected to assault, made to flee their houses, and that property was destroyed in the days following the announcement of results of the Bengal polls.
Numerous violent incidents were reported after supporters of TMC and BJP allegedly clashed in various parts of the state since May 2, killing many people and triggering alleged exodus. A four-member team deputed by the Ministry of Home Affairs had also visited the post-poll violence-affected areas.
