Written by Shaurya Mahajan

On Tuesday, A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition has been filed in the Calcutta High Court seeking an investigation by either the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or the National Investigation Agency (NIA) into the incident of Rampurhat violence that erupted in West Bengal.

Not long after the alleged murder of a Trinamool Congress deputy panchayat chief at Bogtui village, violence broke out in Rampurhat when a mob allegedly locked up 10-12 houses with the residents inside and set them on fire resulting in the death of 8 persons.

The case titled Anindya Kumar Das v. Union of India has been filed by advocate Anindya Kumar Das, seeking a probe by either the CBI or the NIA by averring that a ‘serious law and order problem’ has been created at Rampurhat and that the public is lying at the mercy of local goons as the State authorities have failed to abate the ongoing violence.

It was further contended by the petitioner that this case is fit for a probe by the CBI as the state authorities had failed to protect the life and liberty of the people and therefore acted in violation in Article 21 of the Constitution.

The petition has further sought adequate compensation to be given to the families of the victims of the said violence.

The matter has been mentioned before a two judge bench comprising of Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Rajrashi Bharadwaj. Following this the court has agreed to adjudicate on this matter.

Expressing his views on the death of the Eight people at the alleged violence, the West Bengal Governor said Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday said it indicates that the state is in the grip of a culture of “violence and lawlessness”. Calling upon the police to deal with the matter professionally”. He further added that he had asked the state chief secretary to send him an update on the incident urgently.