Plea for CBI or SIT probe in Sandeshkhali row rejected

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking a court-monitored probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or a special investigation team (SIT) into sexual assault cases in Sandeshkhali in West Bengal, saying the incidents cannot be compared to the savagery in ethnic strife-torn Manipur, even as it allowed the petitioner to approach the Calcutta high court.

- Abraham Thomas

Earlier in the day, a separate bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud stayed proceedings initiated by the Lok Sabha privileges committee against the West Bengal chief secretary, director general of police (DGP) and three other officials accused of "misconduct" after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker Sukanta Majumdar was injured last week during a protest over the Sandeshkhali incidents.

As the hearing began, a bench of justices BV Nagarathna and Augustine George Masih noted that the matter is already being considered in a suo motu proceeding by the Calcutta HC. "The high court is already seized of the issue. There cannot be a dual forum hearing," the bench told the PIL petitioner, Alakh Alok Srivastava, a top court lawyer.

Srivastava had sought a three-member judicial committee to examine claims of sexual assault by women in line with the one formed by the SC in connection with similar incidents in Manipur. He also sought compensation for the victims in Sandeshkhali and action against guilty officers for derelic of duty. "Don't compare Manipur with this. Don't make different cases comparable," the bench said, declining to entertain the PIL.