Kolkata: The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to requisition Central forces across West Bengal to protect judicial officers engaged in Special Intensive Revision (SIR) work and ordered that the Malda incident—where judicial officers were allegedly held hostage—be investigated by an independent agency such as the CBI or the NIA.
The court also mandated strict security protocols at adjudication centres, restricting entry to small groups at a time, and directed both the ECI and the state government to ensure the safety of judicial officers and their families. Any threat perception, it said, must be immediately assessed and addressed.
Taking suo motu note of a letter from the Calcutta High Court Chief Justice, a bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant described the episode as a grave challenge to the authority of the Supreme Court and the rule of law. The court said seven judicial officers, including three women, were surrounded in a Malda village from around 3.30 pm on Wednesday and were not allowed to leave till after midnight.
Recording a series of lapses, the bench noted that repeated requests for administrative intervention yielded little response for hours and that even the Chief Secretary could not be contacted. It noted that the Registrar General of the High Court had sought intervention from state administration but no effective steps were taken till 8:30pm. The officers were allegedly denied food and water during the gherao.
The situation improved only after urgent intervention at the highest judicial level late at night.
The court also took serious note of reports that the officers’ vehicles were attacked with stones and sticks during their evacuation. Calling it a “brazen attempt” to intimidate judicial officers and obstruct an ongoing court-monitored process, the bench warned that such acts could amount to criminal contempt and would not be tolerated.
Strongly criticising the state administration, the court termed the response of senior officials—including the Chief Secretary, Director General of Police and district authorities—as a “criminal failure”. Show-cause notices were issued to them, with directions to appear via video conference on April 6.
The court underscored that it would not allow any attempt to create psychological fear among judicial officers discharging their duties.
After the order was dictated, Kishore Datta, Advocate General of West Bengal, submitted that the ECI should not act like an adversary.
The Chief Justice said: “Mr Adv General, now you are compelling us. Unfortunately, in your state, each one of you speaks political language. That is the most unfortunate thing. We have never seen such a polarised state. That even in compliance of court orders, politics is reflected...Do you think we are not aware of who the miscreants are? At least I was monitoring everything till 2 am! Very unfortunate.”