New Delhi, February 17 Will the Supreme Court monitor every murder or violent incident that occurs in West Bengal, the Supreme Court asked on Tuesday while hearing a plea concerning the alleged killing of three BJP workers after the 2018 local body elections in the state.
A bench of justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta, and N V Anjaria asked the petitioner why he had not approached the Calcutta High Court with his grievance.
Senior advocate Gaurav Bhatia, who had filed the plea in 2018 and was also representing the brother of one of the deceased, provided a brief background of the case and said that three gruesome murders that occurred in West Bengal had been brought to the attention of the apex court.
He argued that 19 murders, which were politically motivated, had taken place in the state at that time, and that the brother and family members of one of the deceased were receiving death threats from some influential individuals.
Bhatia stated that five closure reports had been filed in these 19 cases.
"Will this court monitor every murder or every violent incident that occurs in West Bengal," Justice Nath asked.
The bench said that the petitioner should approach the high court to seek relief.
Bhatia said that the family members of one of the deceased should be provided security, as they were receiving threats.
He said that the brother of the deceased had also filed an application in the apex court.
Bhatia referred to the post-mortem report of one of the deceased.
The bench, after reviewing the report, observed that it appeared to be a classic case of suicide by hanging.
Bhatia said that he would file a rejoinder affidavit in the matter.
The bench granted him two weeks to file the rejoinder affidavit and scheduled the matter for hearing on March 10.
In August 2018, the top court agreed to examine the plea seeking a CBI investigation into the alleged killing of three BJP workers in West Bengal after the local body elections in the state.
It was also alleged that the family members of three deceased BJP workers, Shaktipad Sarkar, Trilochan Mahato, and Dulal Kumar, were being threatened.
Shaktipada Sarkar, a BJP block president in the Mandirbazar-Dhanurhat area, was hacked to death while returning home in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district in July 2018.
The body of 32-year-old Dulal Kumar, a BJP worker, was found hanging from an electric pole in the Purulia district's Balarampur of West Bengal in June 2018.
In the same district in May 2018, the body of 18-year-old Trilochan Mahato, also a BJP worker from Balrampur, was found hanging from a tree.
The top court had in March 2019 noted that charge sheets were filed in connection with the deaths of Sarkar and Mahato.
It had said that having regard to the facts and the availability of alternative remedies for the family members of the deceased, it would not like to continue to entertain the petition insofar as the death of two persons was concerned.