Calcutta High Court transfers probe into attack on Nisith Pramanik convoy to CBI

The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday transferred the probe into the incident of an attack on the convoy of Union Minister of State Nisith Pramanik to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) [Suvendu Adhikari v State of West Bengal]..Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Rai Chattopadhyay transferred the investigation to the central agency while noting that since allegations had been made against the State's ruling party, there was a possibility of the State Police not carrying out a fair investigation. "The allegations are against the workers of the ruling party in the State, therefore, the possibility that State Police may not fairly carry out the investigation cannot be denied, especially when the other side are the workers of principal political opposition party in the State," the division bench recorded. .The Court placed significant reliance on the fact that despite the incident taking place on February 25, cases were registered on February 26 and 27. Further, as per a report of the police from March 3, the investigation was still at a preliminary stage. "Thus, the report itself supports the petitioner’s plea that the State police authorities are not likely to conduct the fair investigation in the matter.".The order was passed on a petition filed by a Member of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly and the State's opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari. He alleged that the police personnel present at the incident spot took no step to stop the perpetrators and thereafter, supporters of the State's ruling party had attacked the opposition party office.He stated that the incident was part of larger conspiracy and the State Police is one of the orchestrators behind the incident. .Advocate General SN Mookherjee opposed the petition for transfer of the probe to CBI arguing that since Adhikari was not present when the incident took place, he could not verify certain paragraphs of the plea on personal knowledge. He also submitted that on the complaint, two First Information Reports (FIR) were registered and investigation was in progress..After hearing both parties, the court explained the settled position of law that the extraordinary power to transfer an investigation to CBI should be exercised sparingly, cautiously and in exceptional situations where it is necessary to provide credibility to and instil confidence in investigations. The bench further noted that the nexus between police and those directly or indirectly involved in an incident who can influence the investigation with the police is a relevant ground to transfer an investigation. .Therefore, taking into account that the attack was on the convoy of the Union Minister of State, it was found necessary to transfer the investigation with the aim to ensure an unbiased probe."We are of the view that to ensure fair, unbiased and neutral investigation, it is necessary that the investigation is carried out by an independent agency.".Advocates Soumya Majumder, Srijib Chakraborty, Anish Kumar Mukherjee, Suryaneel Das, and Chiranjib Pal appeared for Suvendu Adhikari.The State was represented by Advocate General SN Mookherjee along with advocates Samrat Sen, Anirban Ray, TM Siddiqui, Nilotpal Chatterjee, Debashis Ghosh, Yash Singhi, and A Pandey.Additional Solicitor General Ashok Kumar Chakraborty along with advocates Billwadal Bhattacharyya and Susmita Saha Dutta represented the Central government.Advocates Dhiraj Trivedi and Shailendra Kr Mishra appeared for the CBI..[Read Order]