Ram Navami violence: SC dismisses Bengal's plea against NIA probe

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a plea by the West Bengal government challenging the Calcutta High Court order handing over the probe of incidents of violence during Ram Navami celebrations in the state to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

"…we are not inclined to entertain the Special Leave Petition (SLP)," a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said.

The West Bengal government had assailed the high court order transferring the probe to the NIA, saying no explosives were used and the direction was passed on a "politically-motivated" PIL filed by the leader of the opposition in the state assembly Suvendu Adhikari.

On April 27, the high court had ordered a probe by the NIA into the incidents of violence at Shibpur in Howrah and Rishra in Hooghly districts during and after the Ram Navami celebrations.

The order was passed on a PIL by Adhikari and three other petitions seeking an NIA probe into the violence at these two places.

The high court had directed the state police to ensure all FIRs, documents, seized material and CCTV footage were handed over to the NIA within two weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of the order.