New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday made a passing remark on allegations of judicial overreach by a section of BJP leaders while hearing a petition seeking President’s rule in violence-hit West Bengal. The top court has come under criticism from BJP leaders against the backdrop of two important rulings – setting a timeline for the President to take decisions on bills sent by governors and staying of certain provisions of the amended Waqf Act.
While hearing the petition seeking the President’s rule in Bengal and the deployment of paramilitary forces, a bench of Justices BR Gavai and Augustine George Masih said. Lawyer Shashank Shekhar Jha has moved the PIL in the top court and has sought a court-monitored probe into the April 11 violence that followed protests against the recently passed Waqf Act. Jha, in his plea, made the West Bengal and the Union governments respondents in the matter and urged the top court to issue an order under which an SIT can be formed to investigate the ongoing incidents of communal and political violence in West Bengal.
Three people died in the violence that rocked several areas in Murshidabad and South 24 Parganas during protests over the Waqf law, which regulates Waqf properties donated by Muslims. Several houses of Hindus were ransacked in the violence, forcing them to take shelter in relief camps in neighbouring Malda. In the wake of the ugly turn of events, the applicant has also sought from the court that it seek an explanation from the respondents over the “failure of the law-and-order machinery”. Advocate Jha has also sought compensation and rehabilitation of the victims of the unrest.
The applicant also pleaded that the court order both governments to ensure the protection of life and liberty of those currently being affected and prevent further escalation in the violence. “Pass such other order as the court may deem fit in the interest of justice and equity,” the PIL read. The matter will be heard on April 21. Notably, the Calcutta High Court recently dismissed a plea filed by the BJP, which sought a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) into the incidents of violence in affected border districts.
