West Bengal Guv says NHRC report on post-poll violence made public due to judicial order

West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday, asserted that the final report of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) was made a public document due to a judicial order. His statement came days after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused NHRC of disrespecting the court and leaking the final report on post-poll violence under political interests.

While speaking to ANI, West Bengal Governor Dhankhar said, "The first (NHRC) report was an interim report  Calcutta HC has not released that report. The final report became a public document because of a judicial order. The matter is sub-judice. The law will take his own course."

NHRC report on WB post-poll violence

National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) submitted its final report on post-poll violence in West Bengal on July 13 in Calcutta High Court. The report was submitted to a five-judge bench headed by acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal. The first report stated, "Spatio-temporal expanse of violent incidents in the state reflects appalling apathy of the state government towards the plight of victims."

According to the report, the violence was initiated by the supporters of the ruling party against the opposition party, which resulted in the destruction of life and livelihood leading to violent incidents throughout the state.

The interim report was submitted on July 2. 

It was on July 15, when West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused NHRC of leaking the final report online under a political conspiracy. She said, "Now even neutral organisations are being used by the BJP for their political interests. Our state is being defamed. The Human Rights Commission should respect the court. Instead of leaking the report to the media, it should have been handed over to the court."

NHRC on leaked post-poll violence report

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) constituted a committee to enquire in the post-poll violence in West Bengal on the directions of the Calcutta High Court. However, the commission refuted any such allegations of leaking its final report and issued a statement saying that it has shared copies of the said report with the Advocates of the concerned parties in accordance with the directions of the Calcutta High Court. 

"The matter being sub-judice, the Commission of the NHRC did not share its report with any entity other than those specified by the Court. Since the report is already available with all the concerned parties as per the directives of the Court, there is no question of leakage at the level of NHRC. The attribution regarding the alleged leakage of the said Report to the NHRC is absolutely baseless and factually incorrect", the statement read. 

(Source: ANI)