'In one of the murder cases, the man is alive', SC told

New Delhi: The West Bengal government on Monday told the Supreme Court that cases related to post-poll violence in the state were transferred "en masse" to the Central Bureau of Investigation by the Calcutta High Court without looking into facts related to them, Live Law reported.

On August 19, the Calcutta High Court had ordered a CBI inquiry into cases involving allegations of murder, rape and crimes against women in the violence that took place in Bengal after Assembly election results were announced on May 2.

On Monday, a Supreme Court Bench of Justices Vineet Saran and Aniruddha Bose was hearing a petition filed by the West Bengal government challenging the High Court's decision. In its plea, the Mamata Banerjee-led government had submitted that it did not expect the CBI to conduct a fair investigation.

Appearing for the state government, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal began his submissions saying that in one of the murder cases that the CBI is investigating, the said victim was still alive.

"Shocking things are happening..." Sibal told the court.

He also contended that the CBI inquiry was ordered without looking into each of the cases individually. He added that the CBI was also investigating dacoity cases even after it was asked to probe only cases related to rape, murder and crimes against women.

"In normal circumstances, whenever there is an allegation that an investigation is not being carried independently, the court takes the facts into consideration and then transfers the case to the CBI after a prima facie conclusion," Sibal told the court. "In this case, the cases were en masse transferred to the CBI."

However, the matter was adjourned till September 28 after Sibal said that he would need two to three hours to complete his submissions. The court said that there was paucity of time and adjourned the hearing. With agency inputs