News Analysis India

Tag: Calcutta High Court

  • BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari moves Calcutta High Court seeking police protection

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari filed a petition before the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday, seeking direction to the West Bengal Police for providing him protection in view of alleged aggression and attack on him and his supporters by workers of the ruling Trinamool Congress.

    He claimed that he has been the subject of spiteful aggression launched by TMC since he left the party and joined the BJP in December.

    Adhikari mentioned in his petition that he has been appointed the chairman of Jute Corporation of India, a post equivalent to the rank of a Union cabinet minister.

    Stating that he has been made a ‘Z’ category protectee by the central government owing to “severe threat perception”, he said in the petition that this cannot be the reason for the state authorities to remain dormant and indifferent over his security.

    Adhikari prayed for an order, directing the authorities in the West Bengal government to immediately ensure full-proof security for him, including security arrangements at the places of his visit for holding public meetings and on his travel routes.

  • HC allows holding of Gangasagar Mela, stresses need for ‘e-bathing’

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday allowed the Gangasagar Mela to be held this year while laying emphasis on the need for ‘e-snan’ (e-bathing) to avoid crowding for the holy dip at the confluence of the Ganga and the Bay of Bengal in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    A division bench comprising Chief Justice T B N Radhakrishnan and Justice Arijit Banerjee asked the West Bengal government to provide ‘e-snan’ kit a small container with the holy water of Gangasagar – to pilgrims at the fair site in Sagar Island for free and for a nominal fee to people who order for it from other places.

    The state administration already announced that such an arrangement have been made. The state government informed the court that the number of pilgrims who have arrived this year is much less than that in other years.

    It told the division bench that all health protocols are being maintained in the fair which attracts lakhs of pilgrims every year.

    In a report to the high court, the state’s Director of Health Services (DHS) said that the risk of COVID-19 transmission through bathing in flowing water like a river or saline water in a sea is extremely low.

    “However, as a measure of abundant precaution, pilgrims are allowed to go for a dip in a staggered manner maintaining safe distance between one another,” the DHS said in the report.

    The Calcutta High Court on January 8 directed the West Bengal government to file on Wednesday a report on the arrangements made for organising the Gangasagar Mela, based on which it will decide whether or not to allow the annual fair this year in the view of the pandemic situation.

  • Calcutta HC directs Bengal govt to file supplementary affidavit in Manish Shukla murder case investigation

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday directed the West Bengal government to file a supplementary affidavit on developments in the CID investigation into the murder of BJP leader Manish Shukla within two weeks.

    The court also allowed Chandra Mani Shukla, father of the deceased, to be added as a supporting party in the PIL seeking a probe by a central investigating agency into the killing.

    Granting liberty to the West Bengal government to file the supplementary affidavit on developments in the state CID investigation into the murder of Shukla, a division bench comprising Chief Justice T B N Radhakrishnan and Justice Arijit Banerjee directed that it be filed within two weeks.

    Petitioner Priyanka Tibrewal has prayed that the investigation into the killing be carried out by an independent and central investigating agency like the CBI, which is outside the control of the state administration, for the purpose of a free and fair probe.

    Shukla was shot dead at Titagarh in North 24 Parganas district by some assailants on October four last year.

  • Narada sting tape case: Calcutta HC asks CBI to clarify position over chargesheet filing

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday directed the CBI to clarify its position through an affidavit on the filing of chargesheet in the Narada sting tape case in which people resembling Trinamool Congress MP, ministers and MLAs were allegedly seen receiving money in lieu of promised favours.

    A division bench presided over by Chief Justice T B N Radhakrishnan directed that the matter would be taken up for hearing two weeks hence, by which time the CBI will be required to file the affidavit.

    The direction was passed after additional advocate general Abhratosh Majumdar submitted that the CBI has not so far applied to the Assembly Speaker for sanction to prosecute anyone in connection with the Narada sting tapes case.

    Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, appearing for the petitioner in connection with a PIL seeking speedy completion of investigation and trial in the case, submitted that permission is not required from the Speaker of the state Assembly since the alleged acceptance of money had nothing to do with the official discharge of duties of any member accused in the case.

    The CBI counsel, however, stated that permission of the Speaker of the House was necessary before submission of the chargesheet.

    Hearing all the parties, the division bench asked the CBI lawyer to take instructions from the investigating agency and submit an affidavit clarifying its position on the matter.

  • WB govt denies permission to Amit Shah’s rath yatra

    The West Bengal government has refused permission to BJP president Amit Shah’s proposed ‘rath yatra’ from Coochbehar on grounds that it might cause communal tension, the state’s advocate general informed the Calcutta High Court on Thursday.

    Kishore Dutta told the court that the Coochbehar superintendent of police refused permission for the BJP president’s rath yatra from Friday.

    The state submitted that it might cause communal tension.

    Asked by the judge who will take responsibility if anything untoward happens,  BJP counsel Anindya Mitra submitted it is the duty of the state government to maintain law and order.

    The advocate general opposed the BJP filing a supplementary affidavit opposing the refusal of permission, saying it can either come with a fresh petition or an amendment to his petition.