Burdwan blast: BJP, CPM weighs political ramifications of NIA probe

NEW DELHI: The BJP and CPM may have demanded an NIA probe into the October 2 blast at a house in Burdwan in West Bengal, but home ministry officials on Monday said the Centre would have to carefully weigh the political ramifications of the move as well as its implications for federal ties, while exploring the option.

Though Section 6(5) of the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008, empowers that Centre to suo motu direct the agency to investigate a Scheduled offence committed anywhere in India, this provision has not been invoked so far. "This section providing for a suo motu takeover of a case by the NIA is meant to be an exception rather than rule ... given the potential of it being viewed as an encroachment upon the states' exclusive 'law & order' domain, the Centre has always taken care that that the state concerned is on board before it orders an NIA probe," a home ministry official pointed out.

Conceding that the Mamata Banerjee government is certain to resist entrusting of the Burdwan blast investigation to a Central agency, given that the state BJP is already linking the explosions to Trinamool Congress, a home ministry official said going for a suo motu NIA probe would have to be a political call. "The issue may come up for discussion in the home ministry on Tuesday," the official said.

Trinamool Congress, it may be recalled, has been at the forefront of resisting any move or proposed legislation with the slightest implications on federal relations. Mamata Banerjee had earlier opposed the Centre's move to set up the National Counter-Terror Centre (NCTC), describing it as an infringement upon the jurisdiction of states and against the federal structure enshrined in the Constitution.

Stiff resistance by Banerjee and around a dozen CMs, including Narendra Modi who was then heading the government in Gujarat, had forced the erstwhile UPA government to put the NCTC proposal on the backburner.

The apprehension is that a suo motu takeover of the Burdwan blast probe by NIA would not only invoke the ire of Mamata Banerjee but also get CMs of other states ruled by regional parties to rally behind her on the emotive issue of federalism. Also, even if the NIA were to be handed over the probe, it will stand the risk of having to deal with an uncooperative state police machinery. "This might hamper the investigation," a home ministry official told TOI.