2 months ago
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The Supreme Court connected Monday (March 16, 2026) declined to intervene successful a Calcutta High Court determination refusing to enactment a National Investigating Agency (NIA) probe into unit that broke retired successful Murshidabad district’s Beldanga successful West Bengal successful January.
The High Court had, connected February 27, confirmed a proceedings tribunal bid to manus implicit the lawsuit diary to the NIA, and directed the Central bureau to record a presumption study connected March 24.
Appearing earlier a Bench headed by the Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, elder advocator Kalyan Banerjee, for West Bengal, challenged the High Court absorption to the State to manus implicit the lawsuit records to the NIA.
Mr. Banerjee asked whether the High Court could person confirmed the proceedings tribunal bid erstwhile the apex court, successful a proceeding connected February 11, had raised doubts astir invoking the the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), which is the ground for an NIA investigation, successful the case.
On February 11, the apex tribunal had questioned the invocation of the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act successful the lawsuit without adjacent looking astatine immoderate worldly oregon evidence. The apical tribunal had expressed doubts whether an “emotional outburst” could beryllium termed arsenic a “terrorist act” affecting the economical information of the nation.
Violence had erupted successful Beldanga connected January 16 pursuing the decease of a migrant idiosyncratic hailing from the country successful the neighbouring State of Jharkhand. Large numbers of radical took to the streets, blocking railway tracks and a nationalist road for respective hours. At slightest 12 radical were injured successful the clashes, and astir 30 were arrested for inciting violence.
However, the Bench, connected Monday, recovered the High Court’s confirmation of the NIA probe into the lawsuit “quite balanced”.
The Bench said the precise intent of its February 11 involution was to petition the High Court to see the materials successful the lawsuit impartially, and instrumentality a telephone connected whether oregon not the lawsuit deserved an NIA probe,
“It was for the High Court to decide,” the Bench said.
Earlier, connected January 20, the High Court had issued assorted directions connected the ground of petitions filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) person Suvendu Adhikari and others, including leaving it unfastened to the Central authorities to behaviour probe by invoking Section 6(5) of the NIA Act.
On January 26, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs had directed the NIA to instrumentality up the probe of the lawsuit registered by the Beldanga constabulary successful Murshidabad territory nether the assorted statutes, including the West Bengal Maintenance of Public Order Act, the National Highways Act, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.
The West Bengal authorities had argued that determination was nary worldly to pull Section 15 of the UAPA successful the case. They had submitted that nary of the scheduled offences nether the UAPA had been committed successful the case.
