Calcutta High Court Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal on Tuesday said the court was aware that the state government was yet to form the special investigation team (SIT) to probe alleged incidents of post-poll violence, except rape and murder.
The acting Chief Justice also added that action would be taken if the order to the state government to constitute an SIT, which had been issued by the a five-member bench of the high court on August 19, was not implemented properly.
He made this remark while rejecting a plea by the counsel of an alleged post-poll victim, who sought to move a petition demanding action against the state government for not forming the SIT despite the court order.
On August 19, the HC had ordered a CBI probe into cases of murder and rape that allegedly took place after Assembly poll results were announced on May 2. The bench headed by the Acting Chief Justice had also ordered an SIT comprising IPS officers including DG (telecommunications) Suman Bala Sahoo, Calcutta police commissioner Soumen Mitra and ADG (administration I) Ranveer Kumar, to probe other alleged offences.
The August 19 order was passed after the court accepted a report filed by a committee set up by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). The order clarified that the court would monitor the progress of probes by the CBI and the SIT.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee had vehemently denied the occurrence of post-poll violence in the state and accused the NHRC of doing the bidding of the ruling BJP at the Centre.
On Tuesday, counsels appearing for the petitioners informed the court that after the August 19 order the CBI had started its probe but the state government was yet to constitute the SIT. “The state (government) is yet to constitute the three-member special investigating team to probe other incidents of clash and torture during the period,” advocate Rabishankar Chattopadhyay, the counsel appearing for a petitioner, Kashinath Biswas, told the court.
A CBI officer on Tuesday requested the high court’s registrar general to take necessary steps so that investigators could access post-mortem and DNA test reports of Abhijit Sarkar, who was allegedly murdered at Beliaghata in Calcutta after poll results were announced. The registrar general asked the officer for a formal application, which the CBI immediately supplied.