Politically Charged Atmosphere In West Bengal May Not Be Conducive To Fair Investigation: SC Transfers BJP Worker’s Assault Case To CBI For Investigation
The Supreme Court has ordered the transfer of investigation against Kabir Shankar Bose to the CBI after observing that the politically charged atmosphere in the State of West Bengal may not be very conducive to a fair investigation.
The Court allowed the Writ Petition filed by Kabir Shankar Bose, an advocate and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker by directing the State of West Bengal to transfer all relevant records of the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in an assault case.
The Bench of Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice Pankaj Mithal stated, “Thus, looking to the facts of this case particularly, that respondent No. 7 is a parliamentarian from the ruling party in the State of West Bengal and that the petitioner belongs to the ruling party at the Centre, the politically charged atmosphere in the State of West Bengal may not be very conducive to a fair investigation being conducted in the instant case. It is, hence, considered appropriate that instead of keeping the investigation pending for an indefinite period, the investigation be transferred to the CBI.”
Senior Advocate Mahesh Jethmalani represented the Petitioner, while Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Senior Advocate Siddharth Aggarwal appeared for the Respondents.
The Petitioner contended that the FIRs were lodged due to personal enmity with his former father-in-law, Kalyan Banerjee, a Member of Parliament and senior leader of the ruling Trinamool Congress party in West Bengal.
The FIR was lodged under Sections 341, 323, 325, 326, 307, 354, 504, 506 and 34 of the IPC against the Petitioner. The petitioner argued that the FIRs were motivated by personal vendetta due to his previous marital discord and his political position.
The Petitioner submitted that he was granted CISF security owing to political vendetta and threats extended to him allegedly by the State Government and his ex-father-in-law. The Petitioner also alleged that once his house and car were surrounded by “200 Trinamool Congress goons” when he was about to leave his house along with CISF security guards. He stated that his life was saved by his guards who also suffered injuries in the melee to protect him.
The Supreme Court remarked that the possibility that the Petitioner may not get a fair investigation at the hands of the local police or that the local police may not behave cordially with him in the course of the investigation may not be baseless and cannot be brushed aside outrightly or lightly.
“We are conscious of the legal position that no party, either the accused or the complainant/informant, is entitled to choose the investigating agency or to insist for investigation of a crime by a particular agency,” the Bench noted.
Consequently, the Court held, “The case involves the investigation of the role of CISF or its personnel which cannot be left in the hands of the local police also for reasons of conflicting interests. Thus, in our view, it is not appropriate to permit the local police to examine the conduct of CISF personnel in the instant case.”
Accordingly, the Supreme Court allowed the Writ Petition.
Cause Title: Kabir Shankar Bose v. The State Of West Bengal & Ors. (Neutral Citation: 2024 INSC 930)
Appearance:
Petitioner: Senior Advocate Mahesh Jethmalani; Advocates Amit Mishra, Annie Mittal, Abhijeet and Mitakshara; AOR Surjendu Sankar Das
Respondents: Solicitor General Tushar Mehta; Additional Solicitor General Vikramjeet Banerjee and Aishwarya Bhati; Senior Advocate Siddharth Aggarwal; Advocates Sanjeev Kaushik, Shreyas Awasthi, Ashish Raghuwanshi, Ripul Swati Kumari, Kanu Agarwal, Vanshaja Shukla, Navanjay Mahapatra and Madhav Sinhal; AOR Astha Sharma, Mukesh Kumar Maroria, Arvind Kumar Sharma and Zoheb Hossain