NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Calcutta High Court to independently examine whether the invocation of provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) was justified in connection with the recent violence at Beldanga in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district.
A Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi was hearing a petition filed by the West Bengal government challenging the Calcutta High Court order, which had granted liberty to the Union government to consider an NIA probe into the Beldanga violence, along with the subsequent notification by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs entrusting the probe to the anti-terror agency.
Dismissing the state government’s plea, the apex court directed the NIA to submit its status report -- whether post-investigation or during the course of investigation -- before the Calcutta High Court in a sealed cover, indicating whether a prima facie case under the UAPA was made out on the basis of material gathered.