News Analysis India

Tag: Calcutta High Court

  • Calcutta HC orders immediate release of BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari’s aide from custody

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court on Monday ordered immediate release from custody of Rakhal Bera, stated to be a close associate of Leader of Opposition in West Bengal assembly Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP, while directing the police not to arrest him in any other case without the high court’s permission.

    Justice Rajasekhar Mantha observed that there appears to be a pattern being followed by the police in coordination with one another in attempting to keep the petitioner in custody by hook or by crook on one pretext or the other and by registering one FIR after the other.

    “This Court directs that the petitioner shall be forthwith released from custody,” Justice Mantha ordered.

    He directed that “all police stations in the State may register any FIR against the petitioner but he shall not be arrested without the express leave of this Court.”

    Directing Bera to co-operate in the investigation in all cases pending against him, the court ordered the state to submit a list of all cases pending against the petitioner anywhere in the state.

    Bera’s lawyers said that five cases were lodged against him on various charges.

    The court directed that the matter can be mentioned six weeks henceforth for further hearing following filing of affidavit-in-opposition to Bera’s averments by the state and his reply to it, if any.

    Lawyers representing Bera submitted before the court that he was enlarged on bail in connection with a case in Maniktala police station in Kolkata by the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Sealdah, on July 23.

    Before being released on bail in that case, another case was registered by Contai police station in Purba Medinipur district against the petitioner, on a similar allegation of promise of job in lieu of money and was arrested immediately thereafter, his lawyers stated.

    They claimed that the petitioner is being punished by the ruling dispensation for changing political affiliation and for being close to the present Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly by slapping false cases against him and that there are five cases registered against him.

    The state’s lawyers submitted that the cases are being filed by private persons and that the state was only doing its duty as per law.

    They claimed that there is no correlation between FIRs registered against the petitioner and submitted that the Contai police have recovered substantial evidence against him.

  • Bengal post-poll violence: CBI probe into serious crimes sought in HC

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Petitioners seeking an independent probe into the alleged post-poll violence in West Bengal on Monday prayed before the Calcutta High Court that it hand over the investigation of serious crimes like rape and murder to the CBI as per the NHRC enquiry committee’s recommendation.

    The lawyer representing the state police opposed the prayer for CBI investigation claiming that the report of the panel formed by the NHRC chairperson on a direction by a five-judge bench of the high court was baseless and politically motivated.

    Citing the NHRC committee’s report wherein it was stated that complaints were not registered in several cases and “inept performance of local police”, senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, representing one of the petitioners, prayed for handing over the investigation to the CBI as per the report.

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    He submitted that the state’s claims on violence and crimes against women do not match the findings of the committee, which he said are much higher than the government’s figures.

    Appearing for the state police, senior advocate Kapil Sibal submitted that the report was biased and that some of the members of the committee were linked to the BJP.

    In its final report submitted on July 13 before the five-judge bench, the committee had said, “This was retributive violence by supporters of the ruling party against supporters of the main opposition party”, and recommended a CBI probe into “grievous offences like rape and murder”.

    Praying for their addition as parties in the matter, lawyers representing state Forest Minister Jyotipriyo Mallick and Trinamool Congress MLA Partha Bhowmick submitted that without interacting with them, the NHRC committee had put names resembling theirs in a list of “notorious criminals” in an annexure to its report.

    The bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and justices I P Mukerji, Harish Tandon, Soumen Sen and Subrata Talukdar directed that hearing of the PILs will continue on Tuesday.

  • PIL filed in Calcutta HC seeking Mukul Roy’s removal from post of Public Accounts Committee chairman

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: A PIL seeking removal of MLA Mukul Roy from the post of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairperson in the West Bengal Assembly was moved before the Calcutta High Court on Friday, which the state government opposed contending that the matter is in the domain of the speaker.

    The petitioner, BJP MLA Ambika Roy, claimed that the post of PAC chairman traditionally goes to an opposition member, but since Mukul Roy has joined the ruling Trinamool Congress after being elected on a saffron party ticket, he should be removed from the post.

    Appearing for the state, Advocate General Kishore Dutta opposed the prayer submitting that the speaker has the sole authority in the Assembly and it is for him to decide who was eligible for the post.

    Claiming that a court cannot interfere in the decisions of a speaker when it comes to business of the House, as per Article 212 of the Constitution, Dutta argued that the PIL was not maintainable and should be dismissed.

    A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice R Bharadwaj directed the petitioner to submit a short note stating why this PIL is maintainable before the court by August 4. The state will be at liberty to file its reply to it thereafter, and the case will be listed for hearing on August 10, the bench said.

  • Calcutta HC challenges own judicial order in SC

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  In a strange turn of events, the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday challenged its own judicial order before the Supreme Court. The order in question was passed by Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya on July 19, taking objection to Acting Chief Justice (CJ) Rajesh Bindal de-listing a case from Justice Bhattacharyya and listing it before a division bench.

    Justice Bhattacharyya, in his order, had gone to the extent of terming the decision taken by the acting CJ as not healthy. “Chutzpah is probably not appreciated in the higher echelons of power. However, opacity creates whispers in the corridors and is not healthy for a judicial system,” his order stated.

    The administrative side of Calcutta High Court has challenged this order. Demanding a stay, it has argued that the language used in the order is not acceptable. Justice Bhattacharya said while the CJ is the master of roster, he is not the master of all he surveyed and power cannot be exercised at his whims and fancies.

    “The power of assignment springing from the Master of Roster concept, confines the Chief Justice’s administrative power to assign specific benches for taking up specific types of matters, which cannot be exercised at the whims of the Registrar General or even the Acting Chief Justice,” his order had said. Justice Bhattacharyya had earlier made strong observations regarding glitches in online hearings in Calcutta High Court.

    Delhi HC gives Twitter a week to file affidavitThe Delhi High Court on Wednesday pulled up Twitter for non compliance with new IT rules and granted one week’s time to file a better affidavit. “I am giving you a long rope but please don’t expect this to go on and on,” said Justice Rekha Palli.

  • WB govt told to file affidavit on violence 

    Express News Service
    KOLKATA:  A day after the state government condemned the findings of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on post-election violence in West Bengal as a “witch hunt”, the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday granted time till July 31 to the state government to submit its supplementary affidavit.

    The court made it clear that it will not allow further extension of time and posted the matter for hearing on August 1. Refuting every allegation made by the NHRC committee, which was constituted following an order of the High Court, Bengal home secretary, in an affidavit submitted on Tuesday, said the panel was biased against the ruling dispensation and members of the committee have close association with the BJP or the Centre.

    In its affidavit, Bengal government accused the NHRC chairperson of abusing the entire process and alleged that the committee was “deliberately constituted to spearhead a witch hunt against the entire state machinery”. 

  • Calcutta HC allows WB govt to file supplementary affidavits on NHRC post-poll violence report 

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday granted the West Bengal government time to file supplementary affidavits by July 31 in connection with an NHRC inquiry committee report on alleged post-poll violence in the state.

    A five-judge bench, presided by Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal, directed that the matter will be taken up for hearing again on August 2.

    The high court granted the state government time to file the supplementary affidavits following a prayer by it.

    The DNA report of deceased BJP labour wing leader Avijit Sarkar was also submitted by the additional solicitor general before the bench, which was hearing PILs claiming assault on people, forcing them to flee homes and destruction of property due to violence following the assembly elections.

    The court had directed a DNA matching of Sarkar with his brother for identification.

    A second autopsy had earlier been carried out at the Command Hospital here on an order by the bench.

    The NHRC committee, set up by its chairman on a direction by the court, had made scathing comments on the law and order situation in West Bengal in its final report submitted before it on July 13.

    The state government, in an affidavit submitted on Monday, denied the findings of the report and alleged that it is politically motivated and aimed at maligning the Mamata Banerjee dispensation.

  • Suvendu Adhikari files petition before Calcutta HC seeking transfer of criminal cases to CBI

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Alleging that he is subjected to “political vendetta”, Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly and BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari has filed a petition before the Calcutta High Court seeking transfer of all criminal cases registered against him by the state police to the CBI.

    Adhikari also prayed for an order of quashing of FIRs registered against him by the state police.

    The BJP MLA filed the writ petition on Thursday seeking transfer of the criminal cases against him to the CBI for an “impartial investigation”.

    Alleging that he is being subjected to “political vendetta” since he is an opposition party leader and the cases were registered against him with “false claims”, Adhikari also sought an order of the high court directing quashing of the FIRs against him.

    The state police and its Criminal Investigation Department (CID) are probing a number of cases that relate to Adhikari.

    Amid the nationwide row over alleged snooping activities with Pegasus spyware, the BJP leader stoked a controversy when he said that he got access to call details of Purba Medinipur district SP Amarnath K, prompting the police on Tuesday to file suo motu cases against him.

    Adhikari, during a party meeting in the district’s Tamluk area on Monday, had also publicly advised the local police chief to “refrain from doing anything that might lead to his transfer to Kashmir”.

    The Nandigram MLA narrowly defeated Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in assembly elections held earlier this year.

    The district police is also probing a case of alleged pilferage of relief material in Purba Medinipur.

    The state CID is investigating an unnatural death of a police constable, who was part of Adhikari’s security team three years ago when he was a minister in the previous TMC government.

    A case of murder was instituted recently on the basis of a complaint of the constable’s widow and the probe was handed over to the CID by the state.

  • HC gives Bengal govt ‘last opportunity’ to file affidavit on NHRC post-poll violence report

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court on Thursday gave the West Bengal government a “last opportunity” to file an affidavit stating its position on the NHRC report on post-poll violence in the state by July 26.

    A five-judge bench hearing a clutch of PILs alleging that people were subjected to assault, made to flee homes and property was destroyed as a result of post-poll violence in Bengal, directed that the matter will be taken up for hearing again on July 28.

    The bench, taking note of a request by the counsel for the state to grant further time for filing response to the report given by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), said that on the last date of hearing time was granted, but no affidavit was filed.

    “Last opportunity is granted to file affidavit, if any, on or before July 26, 2021,” the bench, comprising Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and justices I P Mukerji, Harish Tandon, Soumen Sen and Subrata Talukdar, said.

    It also refused a prayer of the state for supply of a copy of the Annexure-I to the report.

    “We do not find that there is any requirement to supply the same as it contains the name of the victims of sexual violence. Entire report shall be supplied to the investigating officer/agency, which will investigate the matter,” the court said.

    In an indictment of the Mamata Banerjee government, the NHRC inquiry committee report had said the situation in the state is a manifestation of “Law of Ruler” instead of “Rule of Law”.

    The seven-member committee, which submitted its report before the high court on July 13, recommended that investigation in grievous offences like murder and rape be handed over to the CBI, and these cases should be tried outside the state.

    Appearing for one of the respondents, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi claimed there were irregularities in the NHRC report and that it contained allegations of crime that preceded the date of declaration of West Bengal assembly election results on May 2.

    He also alleged that the report smacked of political consideration.

    Representing one of the petitioners, senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani submitted that the NHRC report reflected the true law and order situation in West Bengal.

    He urged the bench, presided by Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal, to hand over investigation into heinous crimes like murder and rape to an independent investigating agency for an impartial probe.

    The NHRC, in its report, had also talked about “retributive violence” by supporters of the ruling party against those of the main opposition party.

    Criticising the NHRC observations, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had accused the BJP-led government at the Centre of “using impartial agencies to settle political scores” and “malign” the state.

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  • Calcutta HC judge says he will not hold court till connectivity problems resolved

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Taking a serious view of connectivity issues during hearings in the virtual mode, Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya of the Calcutta High Court on Friday said unless such technical glitches are resolved completely, he will not be part of such hearings.

    Justice Bhattacharyya directed the central project coordinator to show- cause in writing by 3 pm on Friday as to why criminal contempt proceedings should not be drawn up against the High Court Administration over disruptions in virtual court hearings.

    Asserting that he was stopping short of issuing a Rule of Contempt to give a last chance to the High Court Administration to rectify the faults in connectivity, Justice Bhattacharyya directed that the matter be listed on Saturday for passing further orders.

    “I categorically refuse to be a part of such circus because I have taken oath to deliver justice to the litigants, who are outside the Courtrooms and beyond the reaches of the air-conditioned rooms accommodating the Judges and toiling in the sun and the dust outside,” Justice Bhattacharyya observed.

    Due to connectivity issues during the hearing of a matter, Justice Bhattacharyya observed that despite tall talks about achievements of virtual hearing facilities and restricting hearing of litigations entirely to virtual hearings, it is unfortunate that the court is unable to provide the minimum virtual services to ensure that justice is rendered appropriately.

    The judge said he felt ashamed that the esteemed Chartered High Court, which has an illustrious history, was being relegated to such insignificance that “we cannot render justice to the litigants at large due to mere connectivity issues.”

    “Sitting in court and playing dumb charades during virtual hearings with the advocates, due to major disruptions in virtual services, has become a joke by now and does not tantamount to adjudication of matters but is a mere circus show before the public.

    “I personally feel guilty, as a part of this Court, since disruption and interference in functioning of Courts, in whatever form, might amount to criminal contempt. I am a party to such act as a part of the showcase of Judges who are adorning this Court, including the Chief Justice,” Justice Bhattacharyya said in the order.

    Mentioning he will not sit in court till such time that the technical glitches are resolved in full, the Judge directed the Central Project Coordinator to ensure that the show-cause in writing is sent to his chamber during the day elaborating the issues disrupting connectivity in court.

    He directed that a copy of the response be communicated to the Acting Chief Justice (Acting), through his secretary as well as to the Registrar General of the high court.

  • Bengal ruled not as per Constitution but at whims of an individual: BJP after NHRC report

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The BJP Friday cited an NHRC report on alleged post-poll violence in West Bengal to attack Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress, alleging the state is ruled not as per the Constitution but at the whims of an individual.

    In its report submitted to the Calcutta High Court on July 13, the National Human Rights Commission said the situation prevailing in West Bengal is a manifestation of “law of the ruler” and not “rule of law”, in a damning indictment of the Banerjee government, and recommended CBI investigation in cases of rape and murder.

    Addressing a press conference here Friday, BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia launched a scathing attack on the TMC and Banerjee, saying the NHRC received 1,979 complaints of post-poll violence.

    He claimed 15,000 people were tortured in such incidents and as many as 8,000 people committed violence and misconduct, but no action was taken.

    “The way violence took place in West Bengal after May 2 (the result day) and innocent civilians were killed and women molested, it seems that West Bengal today is not ruled as per the Constitution but at the whims of an individual. Banerjee closed her eyes and gave free hand to TMC goons,” Bhatia alleged.

    He also alleged the state police did not fulfil its responsibility while TMC workers were “on the rampage, creating a ruckus in the state”.

    The NHRC panel, constituted following an order by a five-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court, also said the cases of alleged rape and murder should be tried outside the state.

    After the report was submitted Tuesday, the court had directed that its soft copies along with annexures be supplied to the counsel for the petitioners, the Election Commission, and the Additional Solicitor General of India.

    Banerjee, however, has cried foul, claiming the report was leaked to the media by the rights panel, which the NHRC denied.

    She also said the NHRC team did not consult the state government or take into account its views.