Guwahati: The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday rejected a plea filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) questioning the probe undertaken by the Chhattisgarh Police into the larger political conspiracy in the 2013 Jheeram Ghaati incident.
The Supreme Court bench which was headed by CJI D.Y. Chandrachud and comprising Justices J.B. Padriwala and Manoj Mishra said that the state police can continue to investigate the angle of political conspiracy in the gruesome Maoist attack of 2013 — which resulted in 27 deaths, including of Congress leaders.
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A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said, “Sorry, we would not like to interfere. Dismissed.”
In September 2022, the Apex court had stayed the investigation by the local police after a special leave petition was filed by NIA against the decision of Chhattisgarh High Court dismissing its plea seeking transfer of the FIR in question to the central anti-terror agency.
During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the NIA, told the bench that the larger conspiracy angle into the incident should be investigated by the NIA as the main FIR of the case has been investigated by the central agency.
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The trial court as well as the high court refused to accept NIA’s contention that the FIR lodged by Bastar police was in contravention of the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008.
The case refers to the incident that occurred on May 25, 2013, when Maoists attacked a convoy of Congress leaders in Jheeram valley in the Darbha area of Bastar district, killing 29 people, including then state Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel, former leader of opposition Mahendra Karma and former Union minister Vidyacharan Shukla.
The brutal ambush by heavily armed Maoists had taken place when the political campaigning for the then assembly elections was on and Congress leaders were returning after taking part in a ‘Parivartan rally’ at Bastar district.