SC tells lawyer seeking probe into 2021 Tripura violence to approach HC

The Supreme Court on Friday asked a lawyer who had sought an independent probe into alleged instances of communal violence in Tripura to approach the state High Court which has already taken suo-motu cognisance of the issue.
“If the High Court is seized of the matter at the moment, our taking up the case now will be an expression of no confidence in one of our high courts. We should wait for the outcome,” a bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Surya Kant said, allowing the petitioner Ehtesham Hashmi to intervene in the proceedings pending before the HC.
The court also protected him from any coercive action.
Appearing for Hashmi, Advocate Prashant Bhushan said the HC proceedings are not on the laxity or complicity on the part of the state but on the aspect of compensation. He added that the petitioner is a lawyer based in Delhi and that Tripura “police have been threatening these people and there are cases under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act”.
But the SC bench said “we will give you permission to intervene and ass the High Court and let the HC look into the matter being raised you here…we will protect you and you can participate in a video conferencing process subject to the HC allowing this”.
It accordingly ordered, “…we clarify that if the petitioner approaches physically before the High Court then no coercive step will be taken Tripura police or no steps which precipitate his access to justice”.
Hashmi, whose Twitter bio refers to him as “Advocate, Supreme Court of India” and “Member, AICC Legal Cell (SC)”, had contended that he was one of the of the members of a team that drew up the fact-finding report titled ‘Humanity Under Attack in Tripura — #Muslim Lives Matter’.

His petition said he was constrained to approach the court to seek its urgent intervention “in respect of a series of hate crimes that took place between 13.10.2021 and 27.10.2021 in Tripura”. He contended that despite the gravity and magnitude of the incidents, no concrete steps were taken the state police against the alleged miscreants and rioters.
Denying the allegations, the state said the report “is a unilateral, exaggerated and dorted version of incidents… and has no veracity in the eyes of law” and termed it “sponsored” and “self-serving”. The affidavit said “the situation in the… state has all along been under control of the law enforcing machinery”.
The Tripura government also pointed out that the state HC had already taken suo-motu cognisance of the incidents, and the matter is pending before it. The state government said the petitioners could approach the HC if they wanted.

The state also said it had been diligently performing its constitutional obligations of protecting life and property of citizens. In response to last year’s violence, the state’s affidavit said, 27 people have been arrested so far and 157 persons/organisations have been served with notices.
“It has also come to light in the course of investigation…that there is an organisation in the l namely, IAMC i.e. Indian American Muslim Council, against which there is information of connivance with Inter Service Intelligence (ISI) of Pakan and has links with Pan-Islam networks: Jammat and terror linked groups. Preliminary inquiry from the internet corroborates the information from another Twitter account Disinfo Lab. The matter is under further investigation. Also, there are at least 14 links which have originated from outside India revealing the conspiracy hatched outside India also to defame and promote hatred between religious groups and create durbances,” it said in its affidavit.