The Supreme Court on Wednesday transferred FIRs registered against former BJP spokeswoman Nupur Sharma in the Prophet remarks row to the Delhi Police.
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The Delhi Police would also investigate in case any FIRs are registered in the future against Ms. Sharma, the court said.
A Special Bench of Justices Surya Kant and J.B. Pardiwala gave Ms. Sharma liberty to approach the Delhi High Court seeking to quash the cases against her.
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The court refused a suggestion made by West Bengal counsel and senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy for a joint special investigation team to probe the case under the supervision of the apex court.
The Bench said an FIR has been filed against Ms. Sharma in Delhi with the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit of the Delhi Police, and this specialised branch could carry on the probe in all the FIRs. The IFSO could collect information necessary for its investigation from other states.
The Bench extended the protection granted to Ms. Sharma on July 19 to continue till the end of the investigation.
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Ms. Guruswamy objected to Ms. Sharma's plea to transfer the case to the capital, arguing that the accused cannot be allowed to pick and choose the investigating authority.
Senior Advocate Maninder Singh, appearing for Ms. Sharma, countered that she has approached the top court on the face of threats to her life.
The bench also extended the interim protection that it had granted to Ms. Sharma on July 19 till the completion of the Investigation.
"The maximum impact of her statements is caused in West Bengal. First FIR was in Maharashtra. Delhi is not on the list. Consider the nature of the issue which has caused an impact on our democracy and tainted the rule of law," Ms. Guruswamy argued.