HC: How can NCW dictate police investigation? This is interference
Times of India | 12 July 2025
Kolkata: Ticking off the National Commission for Women (NCW) for its "interference" in an ongoing criminal investigation, Calcutta High Court on Friday told the commission clearly: "You can carry on your own investigations, but how can you ask police to add sections or ask them to probe in a certain manner?"Justice Tirthankar Ghosh told NCW: "This is interference. You do your investigations; I have nothing to do with it. I will not interfere with your investigations. But tell me who can interfere in a case which is being probed by police?" The court was hearing a petition by Birbhum SP Amandeep over NCW's summons in the Anubrata Mondal verbal abuse audio case.
The judge said: "You are a statutory authority, and you are passing a direction, which is not a recommendation. Even a court of law is reluctant to interfere with ongoing investigations. Summon whomever you want, but you will not have access to the case diary.
"
The Birbhum police chief had moved court seeking quashing of NCW's direction to appear before it in Delhi on July 14 with the case diary on Mondal's alleged abuse of Bolpur police station's IC Liton Haldar.
Justice Ghosh disapproved of NCW's choice of language in its summons. "You are acting as if you are monitoring the investigation. See your language, control your language. Have an approach as a statutory authority... the language is very offensive. You are immediately demanding forensic reports; how will police control when forensic experts will complete their report? Public servants should have respect for other public servants. Today I can summon officers and abuse them, but as a court of law, should I ever do that?" the judge said.
The HC asked Amandeep to appear before NCW online at noon on July 14 and repeatedly urged the commission to exercise restraint in its language towards public servants. NCW's complaint involves the abuses allegedly hurled by Mondal at Haldar's wife and mother.
As the commission insisted that not the SP but a senior police officer should appear in person in Delhi, Justice Ghosh said: "I guess you are concerned with the probe and have nothing against any senior police officer or any officer.
"The court said that after hearing out the SP virtually, if NCW still wanted to speak to someone in person, they could do that subsequently. The commission said the acts governing it mandated that a person appearing before it had to take an oath because it functioned like a civil court.