Post-poll violence cases were 'en masse' transferred to CBI: WB Govt to SC

New Delhi: The West Bengal government on Monday told the Supreme Court that cases related to post-poll violence in the state were transferred "en masse" to the Central Bureau of Investigation by the Calcutta High Court without looking into facts related to them, Live Law reported.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the West Bengal government, submitted before a bench comprising Justices Vineet Saran and Aniruddha Bose that in one alleged murder case, the victim is alive.

"In one case, the man is alive. CBI is also investigating dacoity cases. All kinds of things are happening," he submitted.

Sibal also contended that the CBI enquiry was ordered without proper ascertainment of the facts and in normal circumstances, whenever there is an allegation that an investigation is not being carried independently, the court takes the facts into consideration and then transfers the case to the CBI after prima facie observation.

As he informed the bench that he would need two-three hours to make submissions in the matter, the bench adjourned the matter for a detailed hearing next week.

The West Bengal government moved the top court against the Calcutta High Court order, which directed the court-monitored CBI probe into the heinous cases of rape and murder during the post-poll violence in the state, after accepting the NHRC panel's recommendations.

The top court has listed the matter on September 28 and asked parties to file additional documents by September 24.

The state government's plea had argued that committee report was prepared in great haste, "with a pre-conceived and motivating objective and most crucially, in utter disregard of the principles of natural justice, the established principles of criminal jurisprudence".

It further added that direction transferring cases to the CBI and the SIT was not in accordance with the principles laid down by the top court. It was argued that the transfer of investigation of cases to the CBI and the SIT must be done in rare or exceptional cases only.

The state government said the CBI has been rightly described as a "caged parrot" and it cannot function independently.

A five-judge bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal had ordered a CBI investigation in all alleged cases of heinous crimes in West Bengal after the Assembly poll results, in which the Trinamool Congress came back to power.