The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday withdrew its petitions before the Supreme Court seeking the transfer of trials in cases arising from the violence that followed the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections to courts outside the State.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the central agency, sought permission to withdraw the transfer petitions, citing changed circumstances. The request was made before a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant.
The petitions sought the transfer of cases investigated by the CBI outside West Bengal on the grounds that witnesses were allegedly facing intimidation and that the prevailing circumstances could compromise the fairness of the trials.
The agency had also relied on a report by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), which recommended that cases investigated by the CBI in connection with the post-poll violence be tried outside the State.
The transfer proceedings arose from allegations of widespread violence following the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections. The CBI had approached the Supreme Court seeking the relocation of multiple criminal trials, expressing apprehensions that witnesses and victims could face threats and intimidation.
The agency had contended that transferring the proceedings was necessary to safeguard the administration of justice and ensure that witnesses could depose without fear.
The NHRC report cited by the CBI had recommended that serious offences arising from the violence, including murder and sexual assault, be investigated by the central agency and tried outside West Bengal.
The proposed transfers were intended to address concerns regarding witness safety and the conduct of proceedings in the State.The CBI’s transfer plea had earlier come under sharp scrutiny from the Supreme Court in September 2024, when a Bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Pankaj Mithal objected to the broad allegations made against courts in West Bengal.
The Bench had criticised the agency for suggesting that a hostile atmosphere prevailed across the State’s judiciary, observing that such generalised allegations cast aspersions on the functioning of the entire judicial system.
The Court had expressed concern that transferring the cases on such grounds could imply that courts throughout West Bengal were incapable of conducting fair trials.
The CBI subsequently withdrew the plea following the Court’s objections. The present proceedings concerned the transfer petitions and connected cases arising from the same post-poll violence controversy.
On Wednesday, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the Bench that changed circumstances warranted withdrawal of the petitions. The Supreme Court permitted the agency to withdraw them.
The withdrawal brings the transfer proceedings to an end without a determination on the merits of the CBI’s request to move the trials outside West Bengal.
The cases originated from allegations of violence in the aftermath of the 2021 Assembly elections, which saw the Trinamool Congress retain power in the State under Mamata Banerjee. The violence led to multiple complaints, investigations and legal proceedings, with the CBI taking over investigations into several serious offences.
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