Supreme Court refuses to entertain plea over alleged attack on Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram

New Delhi, Apr 09: The Supreme Court Friday refused to entertain a plea seeking direction for investigation by an independent probe agency like the CBI into the March 10 incident where West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had sustained leg injury after an alleged attack on her in Nandigram.

"You go to the Calcutta High Court," a bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde told the counsel appearing for the petitioners. The bench, also comprising Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian, allowed the petitioners' lawyer to withdraw the plea with liberty to approach the high court.

On March 10, Banerjee had alleged that she was attacked by "four-five men" in Nandigram, injuring her left leg, hours after she filed nomination from the seat where the BJP has pitted her protege-turned-adversary Suvendu Adhikari in the Assembly election.

The plea, filed in the apex court by petitioners Shubham Awasthi and two others, had claimed that the alleged attack on a Constitutional functionary should be investigated by an independent agency like the CBI and the probe findings should be made public to strengthen the voters confidence.

It had sought directions to the concerned authorities to have guidelines to handle such incidents in future and for creation of a temporary body with extensive powers to look into poll violence and punish the perpetrators. The plea had also sought a direction for enhanced punishment for poll violence.

"Such an attack on a Constitutional functionary violates the idea of a free and fair elections and has given free reign to political parties to influence voters," the plea, filed through advocate Vivek Narayan Sharma, had said.

It had claimed that since the alleged attack, the atmosphere in West Bengal has been filled with allegations and counter allegations by different political parties.

"Poll violence is an anathema to the idea of free and fair elections and they need to be investigated in order to...achieve the goals which guide the functioning of a democracy," it had said.