Waqf law row: SC allows party to withdraw plea for probe into West Bengal violence

The Supreme Court on Monday allowed the petitioner to withdraw a plea seeking a court-monitored probe into the violence in West Bengal over the newly-amended Waqf (Amendment) Act. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Koiswar Singh allowed the petitioner in-person advocate Shashank Shekhar Jha to withdraw the petition while granting him the liberty to file a fresh plea.

The top court pulled up Jha over the averments made in his writ petition saying they were without any proper verification aside from the necessary parties.

"You seem to be in some kind of hurry," the bench said.

Jha was observed to have relied on media reports and the court asked him to do a proper verification of his claims in the plea and file a fresh one.

The Calcutta High Court recently ordered the deployment of central forces in violence-hit Murshidabad district.

Several people were killed and hundreds rendered homeless in communal violence in parts of Murshidabad district, mainly Suti, Samserganj, Dhulian and Jangipur, on April 11 and 12 during protests against the newly-enacted law.