Advertisement

Updated May 11th, 2021 at 07:05 IST

West Bengal govt assures Calcutta HC on maintaining peace; says 'no violence since May 9'

The West Bengal government informed the Calcutta HC that no violence was reported in the state from May 9 onwards and assured that peace will prevail.

Reported by: Akhil Oka
Bengal, post-poll violence
Image: Pixabay/PTI | Image:self
Advertisement

In an affidavit filed in the Calcutta HC, the West Bengal government claimed that no violence was reported in the state from May 9 onwards. The Constitution Bench of the Calcutta High Court comprising Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal, Justices IP Mukerji, Harish Tandon, Soumen Sen and Subrata Talukdar had directed Advocate General Kishor Dutta to file a report on the law and order situation following post-poll violence. Dutta also assured the court that all possible steps shall be taken to ensure that peace prevails in the future too.

Maintaining that the issue pertaining to the maintainability of the writ petition shall be decided later on, the HC directed that copies of the affidavit should be furnished to the counsel of the petitioner, Additional Solicitor General and the EC. During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General YJ Dastoor asserted that the issue of post-poll violence was raised by multiple parties which contested the West Bengal Assembly election. Claiming that the police refused to register complaints in many of these cases, he highlighted that there is no online mechanism in the state where a person can file a police complaint.

In response, the Advocate General stressed it is false to stay that the police did not entertain complaints. However, the bench ordered the National Human Rights Commission, West Bengal Human Rights Commission, National Commission for Women and National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to forward the complaints regarding poll-related violence to the DGP. He, in turn, will transfer the same to the concerned police station for appropriate action. After Dutta sought time to file another affidavit, the matter was adjourned till 2 pm on May 18. 

Post-poll violence in West Bengal

BJP, Congress, CPI(M), TMC and ISF have been up in arms over the violence which claimed 16 lives after the declaration of poll results. While the MHA sought a detailed report from the state government regarding the "post-election violence targeting opposition political workers in the state" and sent a 4-member team there, PM Modi called up Dhankhar and expressed his anguish at the law and order situation. Though TMC attributed the deaths to "intra-BJP fights", Banerjee requested everyone to remain peaceful.

Addressing a press conference on May 4, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra opined that such scenes have never been witnessed in the country's electoral history. Alleging that "Bengal is burning", he reckoned that TMC should show graciousness after winning the election. He extended solidarity with BJP workers and the 2.28 crore people who have voted for the party in the 2021 Assembly election. Patra opined, "2.28 crore Bengalis voted for BJP. Is it not their democratic right to vote for a political party of their choice? Will Mamata-TMC govt take care of them? Do they have no democratic right?"

 Meanwhile, BJP president JP Nadda visited WB for two days where he met the families of the affected party workers in Pratapnagar, Beliaghata, North 24 Parganas and Gopalpur. In another development, CM Mamata Banerjee announced a compensation of Rs.2 lakh each to the kin of the deceased persons. She also warned that her government will act against anyone circulating "fake videos" on the post-poll violence. 

Advertisement

Published May 11th, 2021 at 07:05 IST

Your Voice. Now Direct.

Send us your views, we’ll publish them. This section is moderated.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Trending Quicks

ED Attack case: Shahjahan Sheikh Sent to Judicial Remand Till April 9
4 minutes ago
Eknath Shinde
9 minutes ago
Inflation and growth
10 minutes ago
CUET
11 minutes ago
UP: Man Burned Alive By In-Laws in Mathura, Probe On
13 minutes ago
Diljit Dosanjh
17 minutes ago
mallikarjun kharge, lalu yadav
22 minutes ago
UN
24 minutes ago
Ravichandran Ashwin
30 minutes ago
Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar
33 minutes ago
National Mall, Washington DC
36 minutes ago
Wall Street news
37 minutes ago
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Whatsapp logo