The Supreme Court, on Friday, strongly criticized the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for making "scandalous" allegations against West Bengal's judiciary in a petition seeking to transfer cases related to post-2021 Assembly poll violence.
The central agency had claimed that courts in the state operated under a "hostile environment" and were "illegally granting bail," leading the court to express serious concerns about these blanket accusations.
Justice Abhay S Oka, addressing Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, who represented the CBI, questioned the grounds of the petition. “You are casting aspersions that the entire judiciary in West Bengal is under a hostile environment,” Oka remarked.
The court observed that allowing such claims would suggest that the state's judicial system was non-functional, a deeply problematic implication.
Additional Solicitor General acknowledged the flaws in the petition’s drafting, calling it "loose," and agreed to amend the document. However, the Supreme Court insisted that the plea should be withdrawn entirely. Consequently, the Additional Solicitor General withdrew the petition, which was initially filed in December 2022.
The CBI's plea aimed to transfer the trials out of West Bengal, citing concerns about witness intimidation and potential threats to justice in the post-poll violence cases. The Supreme Court had issued a notice on the petition in February 2023, but following Friday’s hearing, the bench made it clear that transferring the cases would be tantamount to certifying that the entire state judiciary was compromised.
Justice Oka emphasized that individual officers' dissatisfaction with certain judicial officers or the state judiciary should not lead to such sweeping generalizations. He further stated that district and sessions judges cannot personally defend themselves against such accusations, making the CBI's claims particularly inappropriate.
The bench concluded by expressing disappointment that a central agency had chosen to cast such baseless aspersions on West Bengal's courts.