Tripura Communal violence

Tripura, Nov 30: The Supreme Court continues its constitutional scrutiny of Tripura after more than a fortnight by seeking responses from the BJP government on a petition accusing the state police of being biased and seeking a court-monitored SIT investigation into alleged communal violence inside the state.

Ehtesham Hashmi, who filed the PIL, had via his lawyer Prashant Bhushan accused the Tripura police of investigating the communal violence artisanally. The trial bench comprising Justices D Y Chandrachud and A S Bopanna issued discovery to the Tripura government.

He said that the police weren’t registering FIRs on complaints made by victims of communal violence however they were busy filing cases under UAPA against lawyers and journalists who published stories about communal violence and posted social media posts about “Tripura burning.”

According to the council, an impartial investigation is of paramount importance, ideally in the form of a special investigation team (SIT) appointed by the SC.

There had been a flurry of petitions in the apex courtroom just a fortnight earlier than the just finished urban local body elections, which the court entertained and handed down orders.

The CPI(M) member, who is also a human rights activist and a journalist, was granted safety from arrest by a bench of Justices N V Ramana, Surya Kant, and Chandrachud on November 17.


Also Read: Tripura people lacking faith in the state police: BJP MLA

 

According to him, UAPA fees were imposed for social media postings depicting communal violence within the state as “Tripura is burning.” He called for a restrictive measure to curb UAPA’s rampant misuse by imposing restrictions on ‘unlawful activities.

In Tripura, the police stated that a motion had been taken against the state’s social media accounts, which falsely claimed mosques had been destroyed in the state when they had not.

On November 25, Justice Chandrachud’s court case refused to postpone the elections at the request of the TMC, alleging that the petition was being pushed by ruling celebration cadres.

Nonetheless, the court ordered that the state discharge its duties in a nonpartisan manner. This was so that the TMC would not have a grievance against the state. It had given instructions to ensure that elections would be fair and free.

In a Court order dated November 24, Justice Chandrachud ordered the deployment of two extra companies of central paramilitary forces in Tripura as quickly as possible so as to maintain law and order during the election period.