The Supreme Court refused to stay on Friday, the Calcutta High Court order of April 27, which had transferred the probe into the cases related to Ram Navami violence in the State of West Bengal to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
The Bench of Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, Justice P.S. Narasimha and Justice K.V. Viswanathan listed the petition filed by the State of West Bengal against the High Court order for hearing after the summer vacations.
Representing the State of West Bengal, Senior Advocate Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi contended that the NIA Act cannot be invoked for ordinary cases of violence unless it was affecting either the security or sovereignty of the country.
The High Court had passed the order on assumption that bombs and explosives were used in the violence warranting the invocation of the Explosives Act, which was a scheduled offence under the NIA Act.
Taking objection to the High Court entertaining a ‘politically-motivated’ PIL filed by opposition leader Suvendhu Adhikari, the Senior Counsel submitted that NIA had a clear bar. There cannot be NIA just because someone said there might have been a bomb.
He alleged that all this has been done in a PIL by an active member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan also appeared for the state government.
Representing Adhikari, Senior Advocate P.S. Patwalia apprised the Apex Court that NIA has registered FIRs in the matter.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for NIA, submitted that after the registration of FIR, the agency wrote to the state government to give them papers of investigation. However, the West Bengal government wrote a letter back to them, saying that they were before the Supreme Court.
The SG urged the Bench to clarify that there was no stay. The Apex Court then then said that it has not stayed the Calcutta High Court order.
On April 27 this year, the Calcutta High Court had transferred the probe to NIA, while observing that at least 12 violent incidents had taken place in West Bengal since April 2021, wherein weaponry, arms, ammunition, artillery and bombs were used by the miscreants, causing great loss of life and public properties.
The Bench of Acting Chief Justice T. S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya noted that the use of explosive substances and hurling of bombs has become a regular feature during rallies and religious ceremonies.
In more than eight orders concerning the violent incidents, the High Court said it had to transfer the probe to NIA as the state police underplayed the true state of affairs.