The court was hearing petitions filed by Advocate Sabyasachi Roy Chowdhury and the Legal Aid Forum, seeking a CBI probe into the violence at Nandigram during the CPM cadres’ alleged recapture of the area.

Pointing out that the situation on March 14 and the violence in November were not similar, Nijjar said the matter will come up for hearing after 10 weeks.

Between November 5 and 11, armed CPM cadres from Khejuri reportedly had unleashed a reign of terror in Nandigram. About 25,000 villagers were rendered homeless and had to seek refuge in relief camps.

Advocate Kalyan Banerjee, representing Roy Chowdhury, also spoke on behalf of the forum. The petitioner’s plea said that CPM cadres, alongwith hired goons had attacked villagers and the district police had not intervened to ensure the security and safety of the villagers. He added that before violence broke out in the last week of October, police personnel were withdrawn from several camps so that CPM cadres could enter Nandigram. State Advocate-General Bolai Roy, however, contended that as law and order is a state subject, the High Court should not intervene. He added that he needed time to explain the situation to the Bench and said, “The state, efficiently or inefficiently had maintained public order there. After November 11, no such incident had taken place there.”