SC asks Cal HC to examine NIA’s UAPA invocation

Kolkata: The Supreme Court of India on Wednesday directed the Calcutta High Court to independently examine whether provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) were rightly invoked in connection with the January 10 attack on the convoy of Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari.

A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi disposed of a petition filed by the State of West Bengal challenging the High Court’s January 20 order asking the Centre to consider an NIA probe under Section 6(5) of the NIA Act. The top court asked the National Investigation Agency to place its status report — either post-investigation or during the probe — before the High Court in a sealed cover, indicating whether material gathered disclosed a prima facie case under UAPA.

Observing that the High Court had made only “passing observations” without a definitive finding on the applicability of UAPA, the Bench requested it to consider the NIA’s report independently and issue consequential directions. The court clarified it had expressed no opinion on the merits and transferred to the High Court the State’s challenge to the Union government’s direction for an NIA investigation.

During the hearing, the Bench orally questioned the NIA’s basis for registering a suo motu FIR. Senior advocate Kalyan Bandhopadhyay, for the state, argued no scheduled offence under the NIA Act was made out and that state police had already acted. The Centre maintained that the attack occurred near the Bangladesh border, involved deadly weapons, and raised national security concerns.