Calcutta HC Has Ordered The CBI To Investigate The Post-Poll Violence In West Bengal

CASE BACKGROUND

• Following the announcement of the results of the parliamentary elections, post-voting violence broke out in West Bengal. Apparently, the Trinamool Congress (TMC), which overwhelmingly won the poll results, turned a blind eye to its supporters.
• Clashes with workers opposed to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in various parts of the state were noticed.
• After several party leaders sounded the alarm about the "total collapse" of law and order, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs sent a team of four members to the area that reportedly witnessed the violence after the vote.
• The Calcutta High Court finally confirmed the matter and asked the National Human Rights Commission to review all suspected cases of violence.
• The Committee of seven members presented its final report on July 13, criticizing the State Government led by the Trinamool Congress and recommended that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) should carry out an investigation.
• The State Government subsequently submitted an affidavit that refuted the allegations and claimed that the report was politically inclined.

CASE PROCEEDINGS

• A separate SIT was ordered to be established, composed of senior officials from the West Bengal cadres to investigate the post-election violence in West Bengal, where the CBI investigated allegations of murder and rape among other such accusations.
• It was seen as a major setback for the Mamata Banerjee led government in West Bengal when the Calcutta High Court ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday to investigate the allegations of violence after the state's review.
• A seven-member committee set up by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had previously reviewed the violence after the West Bengal parliamentary elections and recommended a CBI investigation supervised by the courts.
• The Calcutta High Court held that the West Bengal government is supposed to hand over all records of cases to the CBI for the investigation, adding that it was going to be an affair where everything will be a "court-monitored investigation" and that any impediment or barrier during the progression of the investigation by anybody shall be regarded with serious consequences.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THIS CASE?