Supreme Court Issues Notice to Centre, TMC Govt, ECI on Plea for SIT Probe in West Bengal Post-Poll Violence

The plea was filed by Hindu Front for Justice, advocate Ranjana Agnihotri, and Jitendra Singh requested the court to form SIT to probe post-poll violence in West Bengal.

The Supreme Court on Thursday (July 1) issued a notice to the Centre, the Trinamool Congress government, and the Election Commission of India (ECI) on a plea seeking Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe to investigate post-poll violence cases in West Bengal.

A bench headed by Justice Vineet Saran sought response from the Centre, the West Bengal Government, and the poll panel in the plea, which also sought compensation for the victims and their families.

The plea sought direction for constituting an SIT to probe under the supervision of the top court into the causes and reasons of post-poll violence that occurred in West Bengal from May 2, 2021, and to find out the persons responsible for such violence and necessary action be taken against culprits under the law.

The plea filed by Hindu Front for Justice, advocate Ranjana Agnihotri, and one Jitendra Singh claimed that thousands of residents of West Bengal are being terrorized, penalized, and tortured by the workers of TMC for supporting the opposition political party BJP during general elections of the State Assembly held in April 2021 for which the result was declared on May 2, 2021.

“Petitioners are espousing the cause of thousands of citizens of West Bengal who are mostly Hindus and are being targeted by Muslims to take revenge for supporting BJP as they want to crush Hindus so that for years to come the power may remain with the party of their choice,” the plea claimed.

It further sought the direction of the Central government and the State government to take steps for rehabilitation of the persons who have migrated to Assam or any other place because of violence erupted since May 2.

It asked for direction to the Centre and the State government to “take necessary steps to protect the life, liberty, dignity, and safety of religious places of Hindus as a guarantee under Article 14, 21 and 25 of the Constitution of India and reflected in a solemn declaration made in the Constitution’s preamble.”

Since the announcement of election results on May 2, around 30 BJP members and RSS workers have died in post-election violence in West Bengal.

Many petitions were filed after the post-poll violence in West Bengal, and the apex court had sought a response from the governments.

Courtesy: Organiser