- The Supreme Court reprimanded Bengal's Chief Secretary for missing call from Calcutta High Court Chief Justice
- NIA will take over the Malda hostage case from local police, who must cooperate fully
- Seven judicial officers were held hostage in Malda over voter list deletions on April 1
The Chief Secretary of Bengal, the state's top bureaucrat appointed by the Election Commission ahead of the state elections, received a sharp reprimand from the Supreme Court today for not receiving a call from the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court when seven judicial officials were taken hostage in Malda last week. When the official, Dushyant Nariala, replied that he was on a flight and did not get any call, the court said he would have got a call in the evening if he had shared his number.
When the official apologised and his counsel started explaining, the irked judge said, "Don't defend him".
The top court, which went through the National Investigation Agency's report on the hostage situation, said the Central agency will take over the case entirely from the local police. Invoking its extraordinary powers under Article 142 to hand over the probe the NIA, teh court said there are serious allegations against members of state police in the NIA report.
Read: Who Is Mofakkerul Islam? Man Arrested In Connection With Malda Hostage Case
"The local police is directed to handover the papers of investigation and case diaries to the NIA. It is further directed to provide any logistical support or assistance that will be required by NIA for undertaking the ongoing investigation. Persons arrested by local police so far shall be interrogated by NIA and their custody shall be handed over to NIA," said Justice Joymalya Bagchi.
The court then turned its attention to Chief Secretary Nariala, who was appointed by the Election Commission days before to replace Nandini Chakravorty. He was in charge when seven judicial officials were held hostage in Malda on April 1.
"Your security is so high that even a High Court Chief Justice cannot reach you! Please lower it a bit!" Justice Joymalya Bagchi told the Chief Secretary. "What is the problem? you don't even entertain the call of the chief justice of high court?" he added.
Read: "Was Monitoring Till 2 AM": Chief Justice Raps Bengal Over Hostage Incident
"There was no call made from officers of Calcutta to my phone. I had come to Delhi for a meeting. From 2 pm to 4 pm, I was on a flight," the official replied.
"Calls were probably made during the evening. If you had been kind enough to share a mobile number and other particulars," the judge shot back.
When the official argued that the number is "more secure and its connectivity is better," and apologised, Justice Bagchi said, "Issue an apology to the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court".
Addressing the Chief Secretary and state police chief SN Gupta, who replaced Peeyush Pandey on the orders of the Election Commission, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, who led the three-judge bench, said it was "sheer failure of both you and your administration. Because of your lack of action, the Election Commission of India is kept in the dust".
"You don't communicate to the Election Commission of India, which is entrusted with giving directions to you in cases of emergency like this and this missing link created so much of difficulty and disturbance in the state. What kind of credibility is this?" he added.
When the counsel representing the official offered that he was "in a meeting with the Election Commission," Justice Kant said, "Please do not defend him. This very strong obstinate character of bureaucracy -- we are facing it in other states also".
Read: Behind Officers' Rescue In Bengal, SOS To Chief Justice And Group Calls
"Only because of CJI Surya Kant's intervention in Malda that day, something unfortunate was avoided," Justice Bagchi added.
The judges, however, said they did not wish to take any further action against the officials. "We hope that the officers have now well understood the sense of responsibility in which they were expected to respond and provide assistance to the Chief Justice of High Court when judicial officers were made hostages. We don't wish to take further actions," the court added.
The seven judicial officers --- three of them women -- were held hostage on April 1 by a crowd that was upset because their names were deleted from the voter list. Gheraoed in the afternoon, the officials - who were sent to track the voter list revision - were rescued only around 1 am by a massive contingent of police and paramilitary personnel.
CJI Kant, who was monitoring the events till 2 am and helped resolve the crisis, had said it appeared to be "calculated and motivated" and challenged the authority of the Supreme Court.
