Attack On The Roots Of Democracy: Supreme Court Sets Aside Bail Orders In 2021 West Bengal Post-Poll Violence Case
The Supreme Court allowed the Appeal filed by the CBI, setting aside the Orders of the Calcutta High Court that granted bail to the accused.
Justice Vikram Nath, Justice Sandeep Mehta, Supreme Court
The Supreme Court set aside the Bail Order granted to the accused in connection with the 2021 post-poll violence in West Bengal while calling the incident an “attack on the roots of democracy.”
The Court allowed the Appeal filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), setting aside the Orders of the Calcutta High Court that granted bail to the accused. The Court stated that there is prima facie material to establish that the accused persons formed an unlawful assembly and launched a concerted attack on the house of the complainant, vandalising the same and looting away the household articles.
The Bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta held, “In this background, we feel that there is no possibility of a fair and impartial trial being conducted, if the accused respondents are allowed to remain on bail. Thus, on both counts, i.e., (i) the nature and gravity of the offence which is nothing short of an attack on the roots of democracy and (ii) the imminent likelihood of the accused adversely affecting a fair trial, the bail granted to the accused respondents has to be cancelled.”
ASG Vikramjit Banerji appeared for the Appellant, while AOR Bhavana Duhoon represented the Respondents.
Brief Facts
The Calcutta High Court had granted bail to the Respondents. The CBI challenged these bail orders before the Supreme Court, arguing that the High Court failed to consider the gravity and seriousness of the offences.
Court’s Reasoning
The Supreme Court noted, “Having gone through the contents of the FIR, we find that there is hardly any scope for distinguishing the case of the respondents and that of the accused to whom the specific allegation of disrobing the complainant’s wife is attributed. The concerted attack on the complainant’s house was launched on the day of election results with the sole objective of wreaking vengeance because he had supported the saffron party.”
The Bench remarked, “The complainant’s wife was viciously pulled by the hair and was disrobed. The accused persons were about to assault her sexually when the lady gathered courage to pour kerosene on her body and gave a threat of selfimmolation on which the accused persons including the respondents herein fled away from the complainant’s house.”
The Bench held, “This is a grave circumstance which convinces us that the accused persons including the respondents herein were trying to terrorize the members of the opposite political party whom the accused respondents were supporting. The reprehensible manner in which the incident was perpetrated shows the vengeful attitude of the accused persons and their avowed objective to subdue the supporters of the opposite party into submission by hook or by crook. The dastardly offence was nothing short of a grave attack on the roots of democracy.”
Consequently, the Court ordered, “Consequently, the impugned orders dated 24th January, 2023 and 13th April, 2023 deserve to be and are hereby reversed. The bail granted to the accused respondents by the High Court is accordingly cancelled. The accused respondents shall surrender before the trial Court within two weeks from today, failing which, the trial Court shall adopt coercive measures to secure their presence. Upon surrendering/being arrested, the accused respondents shall be remanded to custody.”
Accordingly, the Supreme Court allowed the Appeal.
Cause Title: Central Bureau Of Investigation v. Sekh Jamir Hossain & Ors. (Neutral Citation: 2025 INSC 788)
Appearance:
Appellant: ASG Vikramjit Banerji; AOR Mukesh Kumar Maroria; Advocates Srishti Mishra, Abhishek Singh, Shubhendu Anand, Veer Vikrant Singh and Raman Yadav
Respondents: AOR Bhavana Duhoon