After NIA Takes over Malda Probe of “Gherao” of Judicial Officers, BJP Demands CBI Investigation

Rohit Kumar

NEW DELHI, Apr 4: Even as the Election Commission of India (ECI) at the directive of the Supreme Court has asked the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to probe into the alleged “gherao” of seven judicial officers, including three women officers, at Mothabari in Malda district in poll-bound West Bengal, the state BJP President Samik Bhattacharya on Saturday demanded a CBI investigation into the incident accusing the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of “Instigating unrest.”

The NIA has already taken over the investigation and a 24-member team was dispatched to Malda on Friday to begin probe into the incident which had annoyed the Supreme Court. On Saturday the NIA team visited the office of the Malda Superintendent of Police (SP) and later investigated the Block Development Officer’s (BDO) office in Kaliachowk, Malda.

Mr Bhattacharya accused Ms Banerjee of making statements that incite unrest and said statistics over the past three years show minorities have suffered under Trinamool Congress (TMC) rule. Mr Bhattacharya said, “The Chief Minister is shifting stance and now, turning under pressure. Her statements are seen as attempts to incite unrest, but the people of Bengal will reject such conspiracies. Statistics from the past three years show that many minorities have suffered under TMC rule. We call for a CBI investigation in the Malda case.”

Ms Banerjee, who was campaigning in Malda on Saturday, addressed a rally Manikchak where she claimed that while the real culprits behind the violence and gherao of judicial officers have escaped, the NIA was picking up innocent local people and harassing them. She urged the gathering not to approach judicial officers scrutinizing ‘under adjudication’ cases post-SIR, instead submit applications before tribunals for re-inclusion of names of those erroneously removed from the voters’ list.

“Two communal parties gheraoed the judges and escaped. Now, local youths are being harassed by the NIA. They have picked up some 50 innocent people in the name of investigations,” Ms Banerjee said, ostensibly referring to the ISF and the AIMIM. The gherao of the judicial officers were reportedly carried out by some people whose names were claimed to be deleted from the electoral rolls under the “Special Intensive Revision” (SIR) exercise.

Ms Banerjee let out a gasp of disbelief from the dais after an overwhelming number of hands were raised from those attending the public meeting when Banerjee asked for a show of hands of those whose names were deleted from the electoral rolls.

The Aam Janata Unnayan Party founder Humayun Kabir, which is contesting the West Bengal elections in alliance with the AIMIM, termed the arrest of a former candidate of his alliance partner as “unjust and politically motivated.” The West Bengal Police on Friday had arrested two persons, including advocate Mofakkarul Islam, a candidate of the AIMIM in 2021 elections, who has been described by the force as the “mastermind” of the gherao.

Mr Kabir claimed that the police had in fact arrested the person who “helped in restoring peace in the area.” Reacting to the police action, Kabir, in a social media post, said, “The action by the Bengal CID following Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s instruction is unjust and politically motivated.” Islam was arrested on the charge of instigating the Malda incident.

Kabir, who was suspended from the Trinamool Congress in December last year, claimed the “facts of the incident are being misrepresented and twisted.” He claimed that Islam had addressed a gathering at Danga in Sujapur Assembly constituency, in front of Al-Sifa Hospital on National Highway 12, where a peaceful protest had been underway since morning, quite a distance from Mothabari, where the judicial officers were detained by the mob for over nine hours on April 1.

Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress has sought an immediate removal of the Returning Officer for the high-pitch Bhabanipur Assembly constituency in Kolkata where Ms Banerjee is locked in a straight contest against the Leader of the Opposition in the outgoing Assembly Suvendu Adhikari.

The TMC has demanded that the poll panel remove Surajit Roy as the Bhabanipur Assembly Constituency’s returning officer, alleging he has close links with BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, In a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner and West Bengal’s chief electoral officer on March 24, the TMC’s National Working Committee member Derek O’Brien claimed that Mr Roy, a WBCS officer of the 2011 batch, was previously posted as block development officer of Nandigram-II Block and is “widely known” to be closely associated with Mr Adhikari.

“There exist credible apprehensions regarding the independence and ability of Surajit Roy in discharging his duties as returning officer,” Mr O’Brien wrote. He claimed that Mr Adhikari’s candidature from Bhabanipur gives rise to “a reasonable likelihood of bias and lack of neutrality.” The TMC also questioned Mr Roy’s current designation as Additional Director of Land Records, saying it did not align with his seniority and that the position has conventionally been held by officers at the joint secretary level.

The party urged the Election Commission to immediately set aside Mr Roy’s appointment, remove him from all election-related duties, and appoint “an independent, neutral and senior officer with no perceived political affiliation” as the returning officer for Bhabanipur.

The TMC alleged that his appointment to the role, particularly ahead of elections, raises concerns of “preferential and motivated deployment.”

Emphasizing the critical role of a returning officer, the TMC said the official was responsible for key electoral processes, including nomination scrutiny, conduct of polling and declaration of results, and therefore must be “unimpeachably neutral.” Citing Article 324 of the Constitution and provisions of the Representation of the People Act, the Trinamool Congress argued that the Election Commission was duty-bound to ensure free and fair polls by appointing officers without any perceived bias.

The party also referred to the Model Code of Conduct, which mandates administrative neutrality, and alleged that the RO’s continuation violates these principles. The TMC representation noted that the Election Commission had earlier sought a panel of three alternative officers from the State government, following a complaint lodged on March 24. While the State complied, no decision has yet been taken to replace the RO, the letter, signed by senior TMC leaders Shashi Panja, Aroop Biswas, Baiswanor Chattopadhyay, claimed.

Calling the situation “Constitutionally untenable” and “electorally dangerous,” the TMC urged the Election Commission to take “immediate, reasoned and transparent action to ensure the integrity of the electoral process.”