The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday withdrew its petitions in the Supreme Court seeking to transfer the trials of the 2021 West Bengal post-poll violence cases out of the state, LiveLaw reported.

Source: LiveLaw

Citing "changed circumstances", Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the CBI, sought permission to withdraw the transfer petitions before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, according to LiveLaw's court report and its breaking-news alert from the hearing.

Source: LiveLaw — Breaking News Alerts, 28 October 2026

The case is titled Central Bureau of Investigation v. Debasis Ghosh and Others, T.P.(Crl.) No. 632/2025, with connected cases, LiveLaw reported.

In its petitions, the CBI had cited apprehensions of witness intimidation and a threat to a fair trial, and had referred to a report of the National Human Rights Commission recommending that the trial of all cases investigated by the CBI be held outside West Bengal, LiveLaw reported.

When the Supreme Court first took up the transfer plea in February 2024, a bench of Justice Sanjay Karol issued notice to the West Bengal government and stayed further trial proceedings in the cases named in the petition, LawStreet Journal reported at the time. The CBI had alleged that officers, complainants, advocates and witnesses were being openly threatened and intimidated, obstructing the course of justice, and the court directed the state's Director General of Police to ensure compliance and file a personal affidavit, LawStreet Journal reported.

Source: LawStreet Journal

The petitions arose from the violence that followed the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections. LiveLaw noted that in May 2026, after the latest assembly elections, a BJP government led by Suvendu Adhikari assumed power in the state, replacing 15 years of Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress rule — the backdrop against which the agency cited changed circumstances.

With the transfer petitions withdrawn, the cases will continue before the courts in West Bengal where they are pending. No party statement on the withdrawal had been reported at the time of publishing.