Supreme Court Refuses To Stay Calcutta HC Direction Transferring Ram Navami Violence Cases To NIA

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay the order passed by the Calcutta High Court to transfer the investigation in the cases related to Ram Navami violence to the National Investigation Agency. Expressing disinclination to stay the order, the bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice PS Narasimha and Justice KV Viswanathan posted the petition filed by the State of West Bengal against the High Court direction after the summer vacations.

Senior Advocate Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the State Government, said that the NIA Act cannot be invoked for ordinary cases of violence unless it is affecting the security of the country or sovereignty. He said that the High Court passed the order on the assumption that bombs and explosives were used in the violence warranting the invocation of the Explosives Act, which is a scheduled offence under the NIA Act.

"NIA has a clear bar. There cannot be NIA just because you say there might have been a Bomb...all this is done in a PIL, by an active member of the BJP", Singhvi said taking objection to the High Court entertaining what he called a politically motivated PIL filed by opposition leader Suvendhu Adhikari. The State was also represented by Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan.

Senior Advocate PS Patwalia, appearing for Adhikari, informed the bench that the NIA has registered the FIRs. 

"We, after registration of FIR, we wrote to them that give us papers of investigation. They write a letter to us saying we're before SC. So please clarify my lords...", Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta submitted requesting to clarify that there is no stay.

"We're simply going to take this after vacation. We're not staying the order of the HC", CJI said. 

Background

The Calcutta High Court bench of Acting Chief Justice T. S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya, while transferring the matter to NIA, said that in the State of Bengal, at least twelve such violent incidents had taken place since April 2021 wherein weaponry, arms, ammunition, artillery and bombs were used by the miscreants causing great loss of life and public properties. The HC had observed that the use of explosives substances and hurling of bombs have become regular features during rallies and religious ceremonies. The Court further noted that in more than 8 orders concerning the violent incidents, it had to transfer the probe to the NIA as the state police underplayed the true state of affairs.

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