Kriti Agrawal
BJP leader and Senior Advocate Gaurav Bhatia has requested to The Supreme court for a CBI investigation into the violence that erupted across West Bengal following the election results on 2nd May.
Apart from requesting an inquiry and investigation into instances of rampant violence, murders, and rapes carried out by TMC workers across the State of West Bengal, the Petition also requests that the State file a detailed status report about the FIRs registered, arrests made, and steps taken by it against the perpetrators of the crimes listed in the instant application.
The concerned Petition was filed as part of Bhatia’s 2018 PIL, which sought a CBI investigation into the suspected murder of BJP activist Dulal Kumar in the state of West Bengal.
Kumar’s body was discovered hanging from an electric pole in West Bengal’s Purulia district’s Balarampur on 2nd June, 2018, following the state’s Panchayat elections.
Bhatia also demanded an investigation into the deaths of two other BJP employees, Shaktipada Sarkar and Trilochan Mahato.
The Supreme Court agreed to end the proceedings in the PIL to the degree of their cases because it was pleased with the State’s actions in the deaths of Sarkar and Mahato.
The current Application for Directions seeks to bring to the attention of the Supreme Court brutal murders and execution of serious crimes such as rape and molestation, brazen brutality, and the complete collapse of the law-and-order machinery in the State of West Bengal prior to, during, and after the recently concluded assembly elections in the State.
The Application goes on to argue that the current events are directly related to the concerns posed in the Writ Petition concerning the prevalence of violence in the State.
The Petition makes reference to the alleged murder of Avijit Sarkar, a citizen of Belagatha in Kolkata, emphasizes that a great dance of democracy is underway in West Bengal, under the security of TMC.
Sarkar allegedly posted a video on Facebook moments before his death, claiming that TMC employees had not only ransacked his house and NGO, but had also killed puppies, and thus blaming TMC leaders for his death.
The Application submits that the incident demonstrates how the TMC has been conducting its affairs with no deterrence, and that the TMC has been exercising undue influence over the police and other enforcement agencies by not registering any FIR against their party workers for their alleged acts.
In view of the above contentions, the Petition seeks the Court’s intervention before the law-and-order situation in West Bengal descends into anarchy and requests a CBI investigation into the violence as well as a direction for the State to send a report on the action taken.