NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday pulled up the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) seeking transfer of West Bengal post-poll violence cases on the ground that there is a “hostile environment” in the state courts.
The top court rapped the central investigation agency’s remark, saying not liking a particular state “does not allow them to cast aspersion on the entire state judiciary”.
“Mr Raju (additional solicitor general) what kind of grounds are taken in this? That all courts in West Bengal have hostile environment? Blanket averment that courts are illegally granting bail.This is casting aspersions that the entire judiciary is under hostile environment,” Justice Abhay Oka was quoted as saying by Livelaw.
Additional solicitor general SV Raju, representing the CBI, said the application was badly drafted and withdrew it.
Several incidents of violence were reported at various places after the announcement of the assembly poll results on May 2, 2021.
After the incident, the Union home ministry sought a detailed report from the Bengal government on the “post-election violence targeting opposition political workers in the state” that left 11 people dead by the evening of the result day.
BJP reported six deaths in the alleged backlash, including of a party worker in Kolkata who was lynched soon after he posted videos on Facebook narrating how goons killed his pet dogs, and of an elderly woman in North 24-Parganas trying to save her son from a mob.
Trinamool said it lost four workers in the wave of alleged political vendetta even as CM and party chief Mamata Banerjee appealed for peace. The ISF, which partnered Congress and Left in the polls, said one of its workers was killed.
The top court rapped the central investigation agency’s remark, saying not liking a particular state “does not allow them to cast aspersion on the entire state judiciary”.
“Mr Raju (additional solicitor general) what kind of grounds are taken in this? That all courts in West Bengal have hostile environment? Blanket averment that courts are illegally granting bail.This is casting aspersions that the entire judiciary is under hostile environment,” Justice Abhay Oka was quoted as saying by Livelaw.
Additional solicitor general SV Raju, representing the CBI, said the application was badly drafted and withdrew it.
Several incidents of violence were reported at various places after the announcement of the assembly poll results on May 2, 2021.
After the incident, the Union home ministry sought a detailed report from the Bengal government on the “post-election violence targeting opposition political workers in the state” that left 11 people dead by the evening of the result day.
BJP reported six deaths in the alleged backlash, including of a party worker in Kolkata who was lynched soon after he posted videos on Facebook narrating how goons killed his pet dogs, and of an elderly woman in North 24-Parganas trying to save her son from a mob.
Trinamool said it lost four workers in the wave of alleged political vendetta even as CM and party chief Mamata Banerjee appealed for peace. The ISF, which partnered Congress and Left in the polls, said one of its workers was killed.