The Calcutta High Court on Friday appointed former Chief Justice of the High Court Manjula Chellur to monitor the Special Investigation Team ( SIT) probe into the post-poll violence in West Bengal. The court, in its August 19 order, had directed that the SIT be headed by a retired Supreme Court judge.
“On account of immediate non-availability of a retired Honourable Supreme Court Judge to take up the assignment, we deem it appropriate to modify the aforesaid part of the order, while adding that the working of the SIT is to be monitored by a retired Chief Justice of a High Court. Further we had requested Honourable Ms. Justice Manjula Chellur, retired Chief Justice of this Court, to take up the assignment. She has very graciously accepted our request. We accordingly appoint her to overview the working of SIT,” the order said.
The order on Friday was by the court’s five-judge Bench, headed by Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal, which had passed the August 19 order.
The court also said that it would be the duty of the Chief Secretary of West Bengal “to ensure that all arrangements for Justice (retd.) Justice Chellur’s travel and stay are made, and protocol facilities are extended to her”.
On August 31, one of the petitioners had approached the High Court saying that while CBI teams were visiting the families of the victims of post-poll violence cases in districts, the SIT had not started its work.
The High Court, in its order on August 19, had deputed three senior IPS officers Soumen Mitra, Suman Bala Sahoo, and Ranvir Kumar to look into cases of post-poll violence. Subsequently, ten more IPS officers have been assigned to the SIT.
The CBI has so far registered more than 30 FIRs in the case.
On Friday, one more arrest was made by the CBI in connection with a murder at Jagadal, taking the total arrests so far to five.
