WB govt questions credibility of NHRC panel; SC to hear appeal on Sept 20

New Delhi: The West Bengal government on Monday challenged the credibility of the NHRC panel, which investigated alleged human rights violations in post-poll violence, arguing that it was composed of members who were either BJP members or known to be closely associated with BJP.

Senior Lawyer Kapil Sibal, appearing for the state government noted that some members of the committee, which was formed to investigate post-election violence, had ties to the ruling party.

"Can you imagine these people have been appointed to collect the data? Is this a BJP investigating committee, my Lords?" he submitted.

As a bench comprising Justices Vineet Saran and Aniruddha Bose observed that if somebody had a political past and if he lands up in an official position, should the court treat him to be biased, Sibal said that the members are still uploading posts related to the BJP.

"How can the Chairman of the human rights committee appoint such members?" he asked, seeking some interim order in the meantime. However, the bench said: "Nothing will happen. We'll have it on Monday.

"The committee report was prepared in haste, with preconceived and motivated objectives, and most importantly, in utter disregard of the principles of natural justice and established principles of criminal jurisprudence," the state government argued. "The transfer of cases to CBI and SIT was not in accordance with Supreme Court principles," it said. The direction for transferring cases to the CBI and the SIT should only be done in rare or exceptional circumstances, it added.

According to the top court, the matter will be heard again on September 20 and the court will review the state government's chart. This comes after West Bengal's government appealed a Calcutta High Court order directing a court-monitored CBI investigation into the state's horrific rape and murder cases during the post-poll violence.

CBI is set to investigate all alleged cases of heinous crimes in West Bengal, after Trinamool Congress returned to power, according to the five-judge bench led by Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal.

According to the state government, the CBI is a "caged parrot" that is unable to function independently.