HC orders Govt to compensate affected people
In a major embarrassment for the Mamata Banerjee Government, the Calcutta High Court on Thursday ordered Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and SIT probes into the post-poll violence in Bengal — a charge the State Government and the ruling Trinamool Congress have vehemently denied.
While the CBI would investigate the graver offences like murder, rape and other human and women’s rights violations, the Special Investigating Team headed by Kolkata Police Commissioner Somen Mitra — and comprising other IPS officers Suman Bala Sahoo, and Ranbir Kumar — would look into the other offences, the court said. The SIT probe would be monitored by a retired Supreme Court Judge, the court directed. Both the agencies were asked to submit their reports within six weeks.
In the damaging verdict delivered by a five-judge bench presided over by acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and comprising justices Indra Prasanna Mukerji, Harish Tandon, Soumen Sen and Subrata Talukdar, the court also directed the State to immediately compensate the people affected in the violence.
An intervention petition filed on behalf of Bengal Minister Jyoti Priya Mullick was summarily rejected by the court. Mullick was named among 50 “notorious criminals” by a seven-member team of the National Human Rights Commission that was earlier directed by the court to enquire into the reports of post-poll violence.
Incidentally the Trinamool Congress, the Left and the Congress had alleged that the NHRC had selectively visited the violence torn areas alleging the commission had acted in a partisan manner by not examining the victims of their parties.
The court also threw out the State Government’s contention that whatever violence that took place was when the Election Commission was controlling the police force, saying ECI’s having authority over the police did not mean that the police would stop discharging their normal duties of controlling law and order situation.
The court, however, rejected the NHRC recommendations for a trial “outside Bengal” but directed that trials should be conducted in fast-track courts, with special public prosecutors and with a witness protection scheme in place.
While there was no comment from Mamata, senior Trinamool leader Saugato Roy said he is “not impressed” by the order as “law and order is the responsibility of the State Government and the CBI’s intervention will tantamount to interfering within the State’s jurisdiction.”
He said “the Government has all the opitions of appeal open before it.”
Senior Bengal Minister Firhad Hakim said, “This order is unfortunate…however we will have to accept it because it is a Court’s verdict…rest is with the State Government which has its judicial options open before it.”
Trinamool Congress spokesperson and former MP Kunal Ghosh said, “It was the BJP which was the offender and not the Trinamool because one has to consider the poll time speeches made by their leaders vowing to reach the TMC people to the funeral grounds, threatening to make our supporters shorter by six inches from the top, break their limbs…find out from the media clippings who instigated the violence.”
BJP national leader Gaurav Bhatia said Mamata should remember that in a democracy everyone had a right to vote according to one’s choice but after the elections the Chief Minister is under the oath to protect the interest of every citizen … irrespective of those who voted for her or against her.
State BJP president Dilip Ghosh said, “We wanted CBI probe and have finally got it we welcome this judgment … today’s order shows that justice is in the way of being delivered … now the victims who were raped, murdered, maimed and whose properties were looted will get justice.”
CPI (M) central committee member and former MP Sujan Chakrabarty welcomed the order but questioned the Human Rights’s Commission report alleging “the NHRC was fairly partial as it only went to some selected places where the BJP’s people were victimized but they avoided places where the Left and Congress’ men were attacked … was because of any distinctive plan to show that only TMC and BJP prevails in Bengal.”