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In a landmark judgment, the Calcutta High Court on Friday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to take over the investigation of the Garbeta killings.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice A K Mathur and Justice Girish Chandra Gupta came down heavily on the state CID for its failure to make any progress in the probe even after three months.
The Trinamul Congress had accused West Bengal's ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist cadres of massacring 18 of its supporters in Chhota Angaria village in Midnapore district on January 4 this year.
Following widespread criticism from Opposition parties, the state government had ordered a CID probe into the matter.
The Trinamul had expressed reservations over the impartiality of a CID inquiry and demanded that the CBI investigate the matter.
The Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights, an NGO, had filed a Public Interest Litigation in the Calcutta High Court pleading that the state government refer the investigation to the CBI.
Delivering their judgment, Mathur and Gupta lambasted the CID saying, "Even three months after the incident, the CID failed to trace the dead bodies or their whereabouts."
"Neither could the investigative agency nab any culprit except one person mentioned in the First Information Report. Thus, in the wake of reports of the National Human Rights Commission and also of the CID, the court has observed that an investigation by the CBI was required to do proper justice and instil confidence in the minds of the people," the bench observed.
The division bench of Mathur and Gupta directed the CBI to initiate investigation procedures and submit its report within three months.
The court also ordered the CBI to appoint an officer not below the rank of Superintendent of Police to head the probe.
Repeated attempts to contact state Solicitor General Nara Narayan Gupta failed.
However, a jubilant Trinamul leader Pankaj Banerjee told rediff.com that the judgment vindicated his party's stand.
He said, "The judgement will boost our desire to put up an even better fight against the Left Front in Bengal. We are sure the truth about those involved in the massacre of our supporters will now emerge," Banerjee said.
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