News Analysis India

Tag: Calcutta HC

  • Calcutta HC order slap in face of those indulged in vote bank politics: Chhattisgarh CM

    Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai on Thursday hailed the Calcutta High Court’s decision to scrap the OBC status of several classes in West Bengal, calling it a slap in the face of those indulged in appeasement politics through “religion-based” quota. The HC on Wednesday struck down the OBC (Other Backward Class) status of several classes in Bengal, finding such reservations under a 2012 Act to vacancies in services and posts in the state illegal. It observed that the inclusion of 77 classes of Muslims in the list of backward categories was to “treat them as vote bank”.

    West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee has asserted that she will not accept the order and hinted that her government could challenge it in the Supreme Court.

    Asked about Banerjee’s statement, Sai told reporters here, “We welcome the decision of Calcutta High Court over religion-based reservation. It is a slap in the face of those who practise vote bank and appeasement politics by giving religion-based reservation.” Later, Sai claimed in a statement that Congress and the opposition INDIA bloc have been conspiring to “murder the Constitution”. AllUttar PradeshMaharashtraTamil NaduWest BengalBiharKarnatakaAndhra PradeshTelanganaKeralaMadhya PradeshRajasthanDelhiOther States”We all know that religion-based reservation has no place in the Constitution. On Wednesday, the Honourable Calcutta High Court scrapped all the religion-based OBC certificates issued in West Bengal after 2010. This is a big decision for the OBC, tribals and all backward communities in the country,” he said. The judgment shows how Mamata Banerjee’s government was taking ahead the “policy of appeasement in an unconstitutional manner”, he said. “INDI alliance has been continuously robbing the rights of tribals and backward classes and wants to snatch their rights and hand them over to Muslims, just because of its vote bank politics. It is highly condemnable,” Sai said. Neither BJP nor backward, tribals and Dalits will tolerate the politics of appeasement of Congress and its alliance, he said. “What is even more serious is that the West Bengal CM has said that she will not accept this decision and will not implement it. It is very unfortunate”, he added.

  • CJI Chandrachud raps HC judge, says he has no business giving media interview on pending case

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: Judges have no business giving interviews to the media on pending cases, CJI DY Chandrachud remarked on Monday as he sought clarification from a sitting judge of the Calcutta HC Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay through the Registrar General over his interview to a news channel about a case being heard by him.

    “Judges have no business granting interviews to news channels on pending matters. If this is true, he cannot hear this case anymore. If he has done so then he cannot participate anymore. We will not touch the investigation but if a judge gives an opinion on the petitioner on a TV debate, then he cannot hear it. The HC chief then has to constitute a new bench,” the CJI said.

    The CJI said that although the court was not going into the merits of the case where the Calcutta HC directed the CBI to probe the role of TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee in the alleged recruitment scam as of now, it was imperative to know if the interview was given by the judge or not.

    ALSO READ | ‘Acting like political party:’ HC judge’s comments on Abhishek Banerjee draw TMC flak

    The remarks were made by the CJI while considering a plea filed by TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee against the Calcutta HC order directing the CBI and ED to question him over the primary teacher recruitment scam.

    Not only Banerjee but even the West Bengal government approached the Supreme Court against the Calcutta HC’s order directing the CBI to probe into alleged irregularities in recruitment on the ED’s plea. The HC on April 22 after taking note of the ED’s findings during its probe in the scam had directed the CBI to investigate.

    Appearing on behalf of Banerjee, senior lawyer Abhishek Singhvi requested the court to take note of the interview given by Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay to ABP Ananda wherein the judge allegedly spoke against Banerjee. “This is a little unprecedented. This is with greatest humility and respect and just not done. This was said in presence of our lawyers. The single judge has not clarified or revoked the statement.”

    Last Monday, the SC had stayed the Calcutta HC’s order directing the CBI and ED to question TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee over the scam. Singhvi had submitted before the bench that although the writ filed before the HC had nothing to do with Banerjee, the judge had still directed the CBI and EC for questioning him. During the hearing, he had also referred to an interview which was given by Justice Gangopadhyay (the judge who had passed the order) in which some statements were allegedly made by him against Banerjee. He said that this was a ground for apprehension of bias.

    NEW DELHI: Judges have no business giving interviews to the media on pending cases, CJI DY Chandrachud remarked on Monday as he sought clarification from a sitting judge of the Calcutta HC Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay through the Registrar General over his interview to a news channel about a case being heard by him.

    “Judges have no business granting interviews to news channels on pending matters. If this is true, he cannot hear this case anymore. If he has done so then he cannot participate anymore. We will not touch the investigation but if a judge gives an opinion on the petitioner on a TV debate, then he cannot hear it. The HC chief then has to constitute a new bench,” the CJI said.

    The CJI said that although the court was not going into the merits of the case where the Calcutta HC directed the CBI to probe the role of TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee in the alleged recruitment scam as of now, it was imperative to know if the interview was given by the judge or not.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    ALSO READ | ‘Acting like political party:’ HC judge’s comments on Abhishek Banerjee draw TMC flak

    The remarks were made by the CJI while considering a plea filed by TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee against the Calcutta HC order directing the CBI and ED to question him over the primary teacher recruitment scam.

    Not only Banerjee but even the West Bengal government approached the Supreme Court against the Calcutta HC’s order directing the CBI to probe into alleged irregularities in recruitment on the ED’s plea. The HC on April 22 after taking note of the ED’s findings during its probe in the scam had directed the CBI to investigate.

    Appearing on behalf of Banerjee, senior lawyer Abhishek Singhvi requested the court to take note of the interview given by Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay to ABP Ananda wherein the judge allegedly spoke against Banerjee. “This is a little unprecedented. This is with greatest humility and respect and just not done. This was said in presence of our lawyers. The single judge has not clarified or revoked the statement.”

    Last Monday, the SC had stayed the Calcutta HC’s order directing the CBI and ED to question TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee over the scam. Singhvi had submitted before the bench that although the writ filed before the HC had nothing to do with Banerjee, the judge had still directed the CBI and EC for questioning him. During the hearing, he had also referred to an interview which was given by Justice Gangopadhyay (the judge who had passed the order) in which some statements were allegedly made by him against Banerjee. He said that this was a ground for apprehension of bias.

  • PIL demands CBI probe into singer KK’s death

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: A PIL was filed before the Calcutta High Court on Monday seeking a CBI probe into singer KK’s death on May 31, shortly after his performance at Nazrul Manch, with the petitioner claiming that negligence on the part of the organisers and the police caused stressful conditions for the performer.

    Noting that the union that organised the programme at Gurudas College is controlled by Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad (TMCP), the students’ wing of the ruling party, the petitioner stated that impartial investigation may not be possible by a state agency.

    He also said that the police did not necessary action to prevent overcrowding at the venue As such investigation into the death of Krishnakumar Kunnath (KK) be handed over to the CBI, the petitioner prayed. His lawyer Rabi Shankar Chatterjee said that the matter may come up for hearing before the division bench, headed by Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava, on Friday.

    KK had collapsed on reaching hotel, following his performance at Nazrul Manch. He was taken to a hospital, where doctors declared him ‘brought dead’. The post mortem report stated that KK’s died due to myocardial infarction.

    Opposition parties in the state have alleged mismanagement during the soiree at Nazrul Manch on May 31 amid claims by certain sections that the number of attendees far exceeded the capacity of the venue.

    Kolkata Police commissioner Vineet Goyal stated that there was no shortage of space at Nazrul Manch during KK’s performance.

  • CBI files before Calcutta HC probe progress reports in Birbhum killings, TMC leader’s murder

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: The CBI on Monday submitted before the Calcutta High Court probe progress reports in the Birbhum arson case, which left 10 people dead, and the murder of TMC panchayat deputy chief Bhadu Sheikh that allegedly led to the killings.

    A division bench comprising Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice R Bharadwaj, which ordered a CBI probe into the two incidents, had directed the agency to file the progress reports on the investigations on May 2.

    The bench had on March 25 ordered that the probe into the March 21 violence at Bogtui in Birbhum district be handed over to CBI from the West Bengal government-appointed special investigation team.

    It had subsequently on April 8 ordered that the investigation in the murder of Bhadu Sheikh be also handed over to the CBI from the state police, observing that the second incident prima facie seems to be the fall out of the murder of Sheikh.

    Ten people, including women and children, died after miscreants set fire to houses in Bogtui village on March 21.

    The massacre happened shortly after Sheikh was killed.

  • Calcutta High Court quashes case against Mithun Chakraborty linking him with poll violence

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court on Thursday quashed a police case alleging that cine star Mithun Chakraborty’s uttering dialogues from his films at a public meeting here had caused political violence in West Bengal during the assembly elections held earlier this year.

    At the public meeting on March 7, Chakraborty had said: “Marbo ekhane, laash porbe shoshaney” (I will hit you here and your body will fall in the crematorium) and “Ek choboley chobi” (just one snake bite and you will turn into a photograph), his dialogues from two popular Bengali films.

    He joined the BJP on that day.

    The court observed that since Chakraborty did not deny that he uttered the said dialogues, any further police investigation of the present case will be an unnecessary and vexatious exercise.

    Justice Kausik Chanda quashed a police case filed by a ruling Trinamool Congress worker against the film star registered with the Maniktala police station here and pending before the court of additional chief judicial magistrate at Sealdah.

    Observing that the petitioner is a popular matinee idol, Justice Chanda said the involvement of film stars in politics in the country is nothing new.

    “It is also well known that film stars try to entertain and attract voters by saying cinematic dialogues in political rallies. The case in hand is no exception,” the judge said.

    The court noted that Chakraborty admitted that on many occasions, on public demand, he has said those dialogues in different functions to entertain people.

    “The two dialogues in question are fundamentally funny, hilarious, and entertaining; it is futile to try to find the elements of hate speech in them,” the court said.

    It further said the petitioner did not utter those dialogues to promote the feeling of enmity, hatred, or ill-will between different religious, racial, linguistic or regional groups or castes or communities as alleged by the complainant, and, therefore, the ingredients of offences under Sections 153A, 504, and 505 of the IPC are absent in this case.

    The court noted that the petitioner uttered the dialogues on March 7, whereas the present complaint before the police was registered on May 6, after the announcement of the West Bengal assembly election result on May 2, 2021.

    “It cannot be said there is any proximate nexus between the dialogues uttered by the petitioner and the widespread violence that took place in the State after the Assembly election,” the court observed.

    The FIR by a Trinamool Congress worker alleged that BJP supporters had indulged in violence due to the alleged instigation of the petitioner through his film dialogues.

    Chakraborty in June filed a petition before the high court seeking quashing of the case.

  • Supreme Court Collegium recommends re-transfer of Justice Joymalya Bagchi from Andhra HC to Calcutta HC

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) N V Ramana has recommended to the Centre to re-transfer Justice Joymalya Bagchi from Andhra Pradesh to the Calcutta High Court.

    Justice Bagchi, who was elevated as a judge of the Calcutta High Court in 2011, was transferred to the Andhra Pradesh High Court earlier this year.

    The collegium, which also comprised justices U U Lalit and A M Khanwilkar, has recommended that Justice Bagchi be transferred back to his parent high court.

    “The Supreme Court Collegium in its meeting held on September 16, 2021, has recommended re-transfer of Justice Joymalya Bagchi, Judge, Andhra Pradesh High Court to Calcutta High Court,” the statement, uploaded on the apex court website, said.

    Justice Bagchi graduated in law in 1991 and practiced before the Calcutta High Court before being appointed as the judge there in 2011.

    Earlier, the collegium on Tuesday decided to recommend to the Centre the transfer of six more judges in different high courts of the country.

  • Calcutta HC judge releases CBI’s revision plea against Bimal Gurung’s discharge in murder case

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: Justice Tirthankar Ghosh of the Calcutta High Court on Friday released on personal grounds a revision application by the CBI against the discharge of GJM leader Bimal Gurung in the 2010 murder case of All India Gorkha League chief Madan Tamang by a sessions court.

    The CBI moved the application challenging the discharge of Gurung, the chief of a faction of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), by the city sessions court here in 2017 at the charge framing stage.

    Justice Ghosh, before whose court the matter appeared on Friday, released it on personal grounds and referred it back to acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal for assignment to a different judge.

    The sessions court had discharged Gurung from the case on August 17, 2017, rejecting the CBI’s contention that the GJM leader was involved in the conspiracy to murder Tamang, one of his political opponents in the Darjeeling hills.

    While discharging Gurung at the stage of framing of charges for trial in the case, the city court had directed that charges be framed against 47 other accused, including the GJM leader’s wife Asha and other top leaders of the party.

    Tamang was attacked with sharp weapons when he was overseeing preparations for a public meeting at Clubside in the heart of Darjeeling town on May 21, 2010.

    He was declared brought dead at the Sadar Hospital there.

    The Supreme Court had on October 8, 2013, directed transfer of hearing in the case from Darjeeling Sadar court to the city sessions court in Kolkata on a petition by Tamang’s widow Bharati.

    She had claimed that witnesses could be impacted if the trial was held in Darjeeling.

  • BJP leader Jay Prakash Majumder need not appear before police for a week in a case: Calcutta HC

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court on Thursday directed that senior West Bengal BJP leader Jay Prakash Majumder will not have to appear before the investigating officer for a week on a notice served to him in connection with a complaint alleging that he had taken money from a person promising him a petrol dealership.

    Majumder, a vice-president of the state BJP, moved a petition before the high court seeking quashing of the FIR against him claiming that it was a politically motivated and false allegation.

    Apprehending arrest since he was asked to respond to a notice under Section 41A of the CrPC (When police may arrest without warrant) and appear before the investigating officer on Thursday, the BJP leader also prayed for interim relief.

    An FIR was registered by Bidhannagar North police station on August 5 on a complaint by one Arup Ratan Roy alleging that he paid Rs 4.2 lakh to Majumder on the promise that he would be given a petroleum dealership.

    Majumder’s lawyers submitted that the complainant had registered an FIR at the same police station on August 28, 2016, alleging that the politician had taken money from him on the promise of securing him a government job.

    It was argued that a person, who has once complained that the petitioner has duped him, could not have again given money to him three years later for any purpose.

    Justice Rajasekhar Mantha directed that Majumder will not be required to respond to the notice for one week from the date.

    The matter will come up for hearing again on August 17.

  • Bengal Assembly Speaker can file affidavit in PIL seeking Mukul Roy’s removal as PAC head: Calcutta HC

    The bench said that the speaker and other respondents, in the meantime, may file an affidavit if they wish to do so.

  • Calcutta High Court asks Bengal government to submit student-teacher ratio, other data in schools

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court on Monday directed the West Bengal government to submit a report on the status of state-run and aided schools, including student-teacher ratio, by September 7.

    A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice R Bharadwaj directed the state to provide the data during the hearing of a PIL over disproportionate number of teachers at three schools in Bankura district.

    The petitioners alleged that while there are more than adequate teachers in one, two others have no permanent teachers and are being run by para-teachers/ The three educational institutions are situated within a radius of five kilometres, they said.

    The bench directed the state government to submit a report within September 7 on the status of state-run and aided schools in West Bengal, including the student-teacher ratio.

    The petitioners claimed that owing to lack of permanent teachers, the dropout rate in the two schools is high.