New Delhi, Oct. 29 -- Maharashtra has filed a review plea against a September 11 Supreme Court order directing the formation of a special investigation team (SIT) of Hindu and Muslim police officers to probe the assault on a Muslim boy during a 2023 communal riot in Akola. Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, representing the state, mentioned the petition, terming the order unprecedented. Mehta, who requested an open court hearing, said that the state was willing to transfer the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The review petition was listed for hearing later in the day in chambers before a bench of justices Sanjay Kumar and Satish Chandra Sharma. The state offered to constitute an SIT of Muslim officers, but Mehta underlined that choosing police officers based on religious identity would not set a good precedent. Justice Kumar told Mehta that the court will consider the state's request when it takes up the review petition, even as he defended the September 11 order. "Let us not live in ivory towers and ignore what is happening around us. Unprecedented times require unprecedented orders. Let us not be blind to reality and the reality that we saw warranted this order." Mehta said the court may transfer the probe to the CBI if the issue is about "distrust" in the state police. The court said that was not the issue. "We do trust that the state police have enough gumption to investigate this case. We had refused to order a CBI probe on this ground." The court said it does not suspect bona fides in every case. "But this case warranted such an order."...