Kolkata, May 13 -- Directing the petitioner to instead approach the Calcutta High Court, the Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition seeking a probe by a special investigation team (SIT) into the recent violence in West Bengal's Murshidabad over protests relating to the Waqf Amendment Act.
The Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice NK Singh is learnt to have taken a serious view of the petitioner directly approaching the top court.
"Why don't you go to the High Court - a Constitutional Court having powers better than the Supreme Court under Article 32? ... Filing direct writ petitions to the Supreme Court amounts to demeaning the High Court. If it was a matter which involved 7-8 states, then we can understand but (this is not one such case)," the Court remarked.
The Court is learnt to have expressed its disapproval of the trend where litigants are directly approaching the apex court with writ petitions, bypassing alternative remedies. The bench said such matters will be dealt with strongly.
While rejecting the plea, the top court granted the petitioner liberty to move the High Court for relief.
"These are only to create a scene. This is all hype being created, we know all this," Justice Surya Kant stated.
Last month, the apex court had dismissed two petitions praying for a court monitored probe into Murshidabad violence. The same bench had warned the petitioner against averments made in the petition. The court had asked the same question why the petitioner didn't invoke the jurisdiction of the High Court under Article 226. The court also chided the petitioner for submitting a petition based on media reports. "Where is the verification done by you?" Justice Kant had asked.
The Calcutta High Court in April had rejected the NIA-probe prayer by BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari into Murshidabad violence, in view of the fact that no adequate materials were placed before the court.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.