The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Calcutta High Court to examine whether invoking the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act was justifiable in an investigation into the violence in Murshidabad’s Beldanga area following the death of a migrant worker in January, Hindustan Times reported.
A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymala Bagchi was hearing the West Bengal government’s challenge to a January 20 order by the High Court that asked the National Investigation Agency to consider whether it should invoke its suo moto powers to probe the violence.
Violence was reported in Beldanga after the death of 36-year-old Alauddin Sheikh, a migrant worker in Jharkhand.
Sheikh’s family members had alleged that he was beaten to death and later hanged to make it appear as a suicide. Protests erupted after his body was brought back to the village. Those protesting claimed that migrant workers from Murshidabad face repeated attacks and unsafe conditions in other states because they are Bengali speakers.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court told the National Investigation Agency that it had invoked section 15 of the anti-terror Act “without looking into documents”.
“The case diary was not placed before you...this is a pre-decisional conclusion arrived at,” said the bench. “Every emotional outburst cannot be packaged as a threat to economic security!”
However, it declined to interfere at this stage and held that it would be best if the Calcutta High Court itself resolved the matter, Bar and Bench reported.
The top court ordered the probe agency to submit a report on the status of its investigation before the High Court in a sealed cover.
The High Court’s January 20 order came on two public interest litigations before it that sought the deployment of central forces in Beldanga after the violence, The Indian Express reported.
One of the petitions was moved by the Bharatiya Janata Party in the state and the second by a Beldanga resident.
Following the High Court’s order, the Union government on January 28 ordered a National Investigation Agency probe in the case, PTI reported.
During the hearing on Wednesday, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the National Investigation Agency, maintained that there was a strong basis for a probe, Bar and Bench reported.
“This is a porous border near Bangladesh,” Raju said. “There was violence and deadly weapons were used...We are doing an independent investigation.”
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