SC fumes over gherao of judicial officers

Terming West Bengal the “most polarised State”, the Supreme Court on Thursday slammed the administration for its “complete failure” and inaction over the “deplorable” gherao and attack on seven judicial officers in Malda district during the electoral rolls revision drive and directed a CBI or NIA probe besides deployment of Central forces in the poll-bound State.

Late on Thursday night, the Election Commission handed over the probe into the gherao of judicial officers to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). A spokesperson of the poll authority said an NIA team would be in the poll-bound State on Friday.

In a scathing indictment, the top court said the incident “also exposes a complete failure of the state administration” and was a “brazen attempt not only to browbeat the judicial officers” but also amounted to challenging the Supreme Court’s authority.

Dismissing the submissions that it was “an apolitical protest”, the Chief Justice Surya Kant-led bench said it was not a “routine incident. Rather, ex facie a calculated, deliberate move to demoralise the judicial officers”. “If the protest was apolitical, then what were the political leaders doing? Was it not their duty to get to the spot and see what was happening? Is that somebody trying to take the law into their own hands? At 5, these people gheraoed the officers and till 11 pm, your collector was not there,” the CJI said.

The court directed the Election Commission to requisition and deploy adequate central forces at locations where judicial officers have been assigned to adjudicate objections under the SIR process. The court also directed the investigative agency to submit a preliminary report directly.

As many as 700 judicial officers from West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand are deployed in the ongoing SIR process to deal with over 60 lakh objections of those who are excluded from the voter lists during the SIR process. The bench, also comprising justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi, directed the Chief Secretary, the Director General of Police and the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal to submit a compliance report in pursuance of its directions.

“Additionally, the Chief Secretary, the DGP, the District Magistrate, Malda and the Superintendent of Police, Malda, are also directed to show cause as to why suitable action should not be taken against them in light of the letter received from the Chief Justice of the High Court,” it ordered.

The CJI directed all the top officials to appear before it online on April 6, when the bench will take up the pleas, including the one filed by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Responding to submissions of the Advocate-General of West Bengal that the poll panel should not be acting as an adversary in this matter, the CJI said, “Unfortunately, in your state, each one speaks political language, and this is the most polarised state. You are forcing us to make observations. Do you think we are not aware of who the miscreants are? I was monitoring everything till 2 am. Very, very unfortunate.”

“We have no hesitation in observing that we will not permit any person to take the law into their own hands to create a climate of psychological fear in the minds of judicial officers who are discharging their duties. Such conduct, undoubtedly, amounts to criminal contempt within the meaning of Section 2(c) of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971. Besides, it reflects a complete failure on the part of the civil and police administration, insofar as the law and order situation in Malda district is concerned,” the bench ordered, adding the inaction of the officials was “highly deplorable”.

The apex court took suo motu cognisance of a letter from the Chief Justice of the High Court detailing a harrowing night where judicial officers, including three women and a five-year-old child, were held captive by a mob for over nine hours without food or water.

The incident occurred during the SIR exercise in the Kaliachowk area of Malda district, and as per the order, seven judicial officers were gheraoed by “anti-social elements” at a BDO office starting at 3:30 pm on Wednesday. During the hearing, the CJI referred to the “shocking” timeline of the incident and said that at 3:30 PM, the gherao began, and the Registrar General of the high court informed the state authorities immediately. He went on and said that till 8.30 PM, despite repeated pleas, no tangible action was taken by the state officials, he said.

“Nothing, however, was done till 8.30 pm. The Registrar General then contacted the Home Secretary and the DGP. Assurance was made for early action. But no action was taken by the authorities. Even food and water were not permitted to be supplied to the judicial officers,” the order noted. The Chief Justice of the High Court was forced to intervene personally, placing group calls to the Home Secretary and DGP. The Home Secretary and the DGP arrived at the CJ’s residence, and the judicial officers, who were held hostage, were relieved post-midnight.

Even after the rescue, the judicial officers’ vehicles were pelted with stones and attacked with sticks and bricks, the CJI said. “Shockingly, when the judicial officers were released around midnight and were returning to their respective places of stay, their vehicles were pelted with stones and attacked with bamboo sticks and bricks. In this light, the Hon’ble Chief Justice has strongly deprecated the delay on the part of the civil and police administration in taking appropriate action,” he said. “Till 11 O’clock, your Collector was not there. I had to verbally instruct very harsh orders in the night,” the CJI said.

Congress hand in glove with BJP: Mamata

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday condemned the gherao and attack on seven judicial officers in Malda, saying the central agencies, either the CBI or the NIA, will now take action on the Supreme Court’s orders.

“One should not indulge in such activities before elections. The whole state has been disgraced because of this incident,” Banerjee said, adding she favours peace and takes along people of all communities. She accused the Congress of being hand in glove with the BJP in Malda, maintaining that they shared one seat each in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls out of the district’s two constituencies. “We do not have any Lok Sabha member from here, but we have still done development work in Malda,” she said.

“I strongly ask everyone not to attack any judge on behalf of any political party,” Mamata asserted, maintaining that such acts give Bengal a bad name. She claimed that some political outfits were acting as stooges of the BJP and trying to divide minority votes.

“If they feel so much pain for the minorities, why don’t they speak up when migrant workers from Bengal face atrocities in other states or when people’s names get deleted in SIR?” she asked.

Addressing a poll rally in Baishnabnagar, the TMC supremo vowed to drive the BJP out of the State first and then from Delhi, while alleging that the Election Commission is running the administration despite an elected government. “It is my promise, I will drive out the BJP first from Bengal and then from Delhi,” Mamata said at an election rally.

She accused the poll body of acting at the BJP’s behest, alleging development work in the state has stalled.  “The EC has doomed Bengal at the behest of the BJP; development work has stopped in the state,” Banerjee, who has repeatedly accused the poll body of being hand in glove with the saffron party, said.“(Prime Minister) Narendra Modi and (Union Home Minister) Amit Shah have taken the country on the path to ruin,” she said.Claiming that names were deleted from voter lists during the ongoing Spec

BJP RAPS TMC

New Delhi: The BJP on Thursday termed the gherao and attack on seven judicial officers in Malda district a “black spot” in the country’s history, alleging “TMC goons” acted at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s behest to obstruct the SIR exercise and protect Rohingyas.

BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia asked if Banerjee was “ashamed” of the top court’s observations and would resign as the chief minister of the poll-bound State.“This is Mamata Banerjee’s jungle raj. The TMC workers took judicial officers hostage at the behest of Mamata Banerjee. Such an incident never happened in the history of Bharat. It’s unfortunate and a black spot,” Bhatia said during a press conference at the party headquarters.The seven judicial officers were doing their work, complying with the Supreme Court’s directive, he said.“It is sad that Mamata Banerjee, who has taken the oath of the Constitution, is taking judicial officers hostage in a blatant defiance of the Supreme Court orders. The intention is to scare the judicial officers as Mamata Banerjee wants to obstruct the SIR process,” he added.

Bhatia alleged that Banerjee deployed her party workers to take the judicial officers “hostage” to protect the Rohingyas.“Mamata Banerjee, who is supposed to protect the people of West Bengal and their rights, is standing by the Rohingyas. She lo