News Analysis India

Tag: Trinamool

  • Narada sting case: SC allows CBI to withdraw appeal against HC order allowing house arrest of Trinamool leaders

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Tuesday permitted the CBI to withdraw its appeal against the Calcutta High Court order allowing house arrest of four leaders, including three from the TMC, in the Narada bribery case.

    A vacation bench comprising Justices Vineet Saran and B R Gavai took note of the fact that a five-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court is already hearing the Narada bribery case and permitted Solicitor General Tuahar Mehta, appearing for the CBI, to take back its appeal and raise all the grievances there in the high court.

    “We have not expressed any opinion on the merits of the case and our observations do not reflect our views on merits of the matter,” the bench said, adding that the West Bengal and leaders are also free to raise their submissions on the high court.

    The high court had on May 21 ordered shifting of two West Bengal ministers, an MLA and a former Kolkata mayor to house arrest from jail.

    A division bench, presided by Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal, differed on the issue of recalling the stay on bail to the four accused.

    On May 24, the five-judge bench of the High Court heard the case and refused the prayer by CBI to adjourn the matter.

    West Bengal Transport Minister Firhad Hakim, Panchayat Minister Subrata Mukherjee, TMC MLA Madan Mitra and former Kolkata mayor Sovan Chatterjee were arrested by the CBI last Monday in connection with the Narada sting tape case that is being investigated by the agency on a 2017 order of the high court.

  • Poll violence: Three arrested so far for killing of two BJP workers, Mamata government tells SC

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The West Bengal government informed the Supreme Court on Tuesday that three people have been arrested in connection with the alleged killing of two BJP workers in poll-related violence on May 2 in the state and FIRs have been registered in these cases.

    The state government told a vacation bench of Justices Vineet Saran and B R Gavai that investigation is going on.

    The apex court asked the respondents, including the Centre, West Bengal government and National Human Rights Commission, to file counter affidavits on the plea by the victims’ kin seeking court monitored probe and transfer of cases to the CBI or Special Investigation Team (SIT).

    “You file your counter affidavits. We will have it after two weeks,” the bench said.

    Senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, appearing for West Bengal, told the top court that a five-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court is dealing with the matter related to post poll violence in the state and it had also passed some directions on May 18.

    “FIRs stand registered and they are under investigation. Three persons have been arrested in these cases which were lodged based on the complaints,” Luthra said.

    He said the issue regarding post poll violence was listed for hearing today before the high court.

    Luthra said the matter could not be taken up for hearing by the high court today and it would be heard on Wednesday.

    The bench asked Luthra and counsel appearing for other respondents to file their counter affidavits and posted the matter for hearing after two weeks.

    ALSO READ | Post-poll violence against women in Bengal: NCW asks state DGP to appear before it

    On May 18, the apex court had issued notices to the Centre, West Bengal government and others seeking their responses on the plea filed by Biswajit Sarkar, whose elder brother was killed and co-petitioner Swaranalata Adhikari, whose husband was also killed in poll related violence.

    Senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, appearing for the petitioners, had said that this is a very serious case and the state has not been taking any action into the brutal killing of two BJP workers, which happened on the day of counting of votes for assembly elections.

    He had argued that matter required to be probed by an agency like the CBI or a SIT under court supervision, as the state police has not been taking any action despite a complaint being made.

    The plea, field by advocate Sarad Kumar Singhania, has alleged that Abhijit Sarkar was killed on May 2 by a mob comprising of 20 supporters of the All India Trinamool Congress party.

    It said that mob had entered the house of Biswajit Sarkar, dragged his elder brother Abhijit and killed him in front of his mother and other family members.

    “Petitioner No.1 (Biswajit Sarkar), his mother who was also molested are the eye witnesses of this gruesome murder, while Petitioner No.2 (Swaranalata Adhikari) is the widow of Haran Adhikari, who was a local booth worker at Booth No. 199A at Sonarpur Dakshin Vidhan Sabha.”

    “He was attacked with bricks, sticks, spade, shovel at his home and brutally killed in the presence of his 80-year-old father, who was also kicked”, the plea said.

    It said that the petitioners, who are both victims and eye witnesses, have been constrained to invoke the extraordinary writ jurisdiction of the apex court seeking fair investigation by a court-appointed SIT into the murders and large scale incidents of violence unleashed at the behest of a particular political party.

    The plea has said the court should also examine “the failure of the state administration which while identifying itself with this vengeful cause of the ruling political party in the state has chosen to turn a blind eye leaving victims of these crimes remediless as the entire genocidal attacks are part of a well thought of political design of the party in power to take political revenge after declaration of results of assembly elections on May 2, 2021”.

    It has alleged that there are series of such well-planned attacks with the active connivance, knowledge, support and at times participation of the local police under the instructions of the state government.

    The plea has also sought direction to monitor the investigation, trial and the progress of criminal cases emanating from the incident and attacks occurring in the aftermath of the assembly elections in the state of West Bengal.

    It has also sought transfer of these two murder cases registered in police station Narkeldanga and Sonarpur to be transferred to CBI or SIT as may be appointed by this court.

    Mamata Banerjee led All India Trinamool Congress had won 213 seats out of 292 seats in West Bengal assembly elections in the hotly contested polls while BJP won 77 seats.

    Several violent incidents were reported after supporters of Trinamool Congress and BJP allegedly clashed in various parts of the state since May 2, killing at least 16 people and triggering alleged exodus.

  • Trinamool turncoats welcomed into BJP by neglecting old-timers will quit one by one: Tathagata Roy

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Continuing his tirade against a section of the party leadership, senior BJP leader Tathagata Roy on Monday said those TMC turncoats who were welcomed into the saffron party by neglecting old-timers have shown their “true colours” and will return to their old party one by one.

    TMC turncoats Sonali Guha, Sarala Murmu and Amal Acharya, who had joined the BJP before the West Bengal assembly elections, have expressed their desire to return to the ruling party in the state and said they regretted their decision to join the BJP.

    “My words have proved to be true. Those who were welcomed into the BJP with open arms, those new entrants who were granted such rousing reception while old-timers of 20-30 years were given short shrift and subjected to total neglect, are now set to return to the TMC one by one,” Roy, known for his controversial statements, said.

    After the BJP’s poor performance in the assembly elections, in which it bagged only 77 seats while the TMC won 213 constituencies, the former governor of Tripura and Meghalaya said that “unwanted elements” from the ruling party in West Bengal had joined the saffron camp ahead of the polls.

    On the TMC turncoats’ wish to return to their old party, senior leader and MP Sougata Roy said that in his opinion, these turncoats should not be inducted into the Trinamool Congress within the next six months.

    “Chief Minister and party chief Mamata Banerjee will take the final decision in this regard. But, in my view, they should not be inducted into the party within six months’ time.”

    “Our grassroots level activists had worked so hard during poll campaigning against the BJP’s sustained adverse campaign and money power. We may look into their sentiments,” Roy said.

    TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said the party is preoccupied with the fight against COVID-19 and does not have time for other issues.

  • Post-poll violence in Bengal: Retired judges, diplomats, women lawyers others write to President Kovind, CJI Ramana

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Blaming “state terror” for political violence in West Bengal, a group of citizens has written to President Ram Nath Kovind and called for a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe monitored by a retired Supreme Court judge for a fair investigation and speedy justice.

    Referring to the “targeted political killings” and violence after the West Bengal assembly elections and “deficient and inappropriate” response of the local administration and police, they demanded that these cases be handed over to the NIA to deal with the “anti-national” onslaught on the culture and integrity of the country as it is a border state.

    Nearly 150 people, including retired judges, diplomats, bureaucrats, police officials and veterans, have submitted this memorandum to the president on Monday.

    The memorandum said, “We are greatly disturbed by the mindless instigation of reported violence in electoral vengeance against the people who exercised their democratic right to vote for one political party or the other.”

    “Media reports, largely substantiated by eyewitness accounts, mention murders, rapes, attacks on persons and property, including by anti-national elements, leading to forced migration of people to shelter homes.”

    These unfortunate developments, if unchecked, could establish a trend which will undermine and ultimately destroy the deep rooted democratic traditions of India, they said.

    Citing media reports, they said over a dozen persons, including women, have been killed in post-poll violence in the state in over 15,000 incidents of alleged violence.

    As a result, 4,000 to 5,000 people have reportedly migrated to Assam, Jharkhand and Orissa, they said, seeking a special relief package for the victims of violence, and efforts for their rehabilitation.

    “Offences reportedly of rape, attempted rapes, and violating the modesty of women, targeting scheduled castes and tribes, and incidents of religious sacrilege are the worst manifestation of post-poll violence in West Bengal,” they said.

    The BJP has blamed the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress for the violence, while the TMC has accused the saffron party of politicising incidents of violence in which, it has said, its workers have also lost lives.

    The state government has also refuted the allegations of large-scale violence.

    The memorandum said, “It is clear that the overwhelming majority of civilian deaths resulting from political violence were the result of what should be understood as serious acts of commission and omission of the law and order enforcement machinery of the State, or, in the worst case scenario, induced ‘State Terror’.”

    Noting that law and order is a state subject, they said the state government under Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee must act in accordance with the Constitutional mandate to maintain it and curb violence with an iron hand to ensure peace and tranquillity.

    Former Delhi High Court chief justice B C Patel, former Bombay High Court chief justice Kshitij Vyas, former RAW chief Sanjeev Tripathi, former Punjab DGP P C Dogra and former Jammu and Kashmir DGP S P Vaid are among the signatories to the memorandum.

    Meanwhile, over 2,000 women lawyers from across the country wrote to Chief Justice of India (CJI) N V Ramana on Monday urging him to take cognisance of alleged post poll violence in West Bengal and constitute a Special Investigation Team to register FIRs and investigation into the matter.

    The letter signed by 2,093 women advocates, including from West Bengal, claimed that the post poll violence continuing since May 2 in the state has not even spared women and children.

    The women lawyers said that there was a “constitutional crisis” in the state due to the violence since May 2, which has made the condition of the citizens in the state “deplorable”.

    “The incidents of violence have shackled the conscience of thousands of women lawyers across the length and breadth of ‘Bharat’. It is stated with utmost grief that the perpetrators of violence have not even spared women and children,” it said.

    The letter said that the police was hand in gloves with the goons and the victims were not in a position to even register their complaints and that there is a complete breakdown of the constitutional machinery in the state.

    “Take cognizance of the matter and constitute a Special Investigation Team to register FIRs and investigate into the deaths and other vengeful attacks as being reported in news,” the letter urged.

    It also sought that a nodal officer, not belonging to West Bengal Police, be appointed to register the complaints of the victims.

    “Direct court monitored investigation in a time bound manner, trial by specially constituted fast track court wherever charge sheet is filed by the SIT regarding cases emanating from the post poll violence in the State of West Bengal; “Issue Directions that all post poll violence victims/family members may be duly compensated for death /injuries, loss of property etc. by the State of West Bengal,” it further said.

    The letter also urged the CJI to ask the Director General of Police, West Bengal, to set up an effective complaint mechanism at all levels on priority basis and to file a daily report before the apex court, regarding the complaints received by Police Department from all channels.

  • Narada case: Calcutta HC refuses CBI prayer to adjourn matter

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court on Monday took up hearing in the Narada sting tapes case — in which two Bengal ministers, a TMC MLA and a former mayor of Kolkata have been arrested — refusing a prayer by the CBI to adjourn the matter.

    Representing the CBI, Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, during the virtual session, prayed before the five-judge bench that it adjourn hearing in the case, as the investigating agency has filed a special leave petition (SLP) before the Supreme Court, in connection with the high court’s May 19 and May 21 orders.

    The five-judge bench of the high court, however, decided to commence hearing in the matter since the SLP is yet to be listed for hearing before the apex court.

    It heard the CBI plea for transfer of the case from lower court to high court, and applications filed by the accused for recall of the stay order the high court had given on a lower court ruling.

    The CBI has sought before the high court transfer of the case alleging extraordinary circumstances.

    The agency claimed that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sat on a dharna at the CBI office after the arrests were made, and that it could not produce the four accused in court physically owing to unruly protests by a large number of people outside its office complex.

    The four leaders – ministers Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherjee, TMC MLA Madan Mitra and former city mayor Sovan Chatterjee — were arrested on May 17 morning by the CBI, which is investigating the Narada sting tapes case on the order of the high court.

    A special CBI court had on that very day granted interim bail to the four accused, but a division bench of the high court — comprising Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Arijit Banerjee — later stayed its decision, following which the leaders were sent to judicial custody.

    Differing on the application filed by the accused for recall of the stay order, Justice Arijit Banerjee had on May 19 passed an order allowing bail, while acting chief justice Bindal wanted that they be placed under house arrest.

    The division bench then passed an order on May 21, sending the four accused to house arrest, modifying its earlier order that stayed their bail granted by a CBI court.

    The ministers and the other two are undergoing house confinement since May 21.

    In view of the difference of opinion, the matter was then referred to a larger bench.

    A five-judge bench comprising the acting Chief Justice, justices I P Mukerji, Harish Tandon, Soumen Sen and Arijit Banerjee was subsequently constituted and the case was listed for hearing at 11 am on Monday.

    Lawyer Manishankar Chatterjee, who is representing Subrata Mukherjee, said that the issues that would be heard in the high court were noted by the five-judge bench on Monday.

    Among the main issues that were brought to the fore include the possibility of hearing the CBI’s transfer application together with the bail pleas filed by the accused, Chatterjee said.

    He further said that the five-judge bench has fixed the matter for further hearing on Wednesday.

    The sting operation, conducted by Mathew Samuel of Narada TV news channel in 2014, had purportedly caught on camera politicians accepting bribes in lieu of favours.

  • Narada case: Firhad Hakim returns home after HC orders house arrest, three others to remain in hospital due to ill health

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: West Bengal minister Firhad Hakim on Friday returned home after the Calcutta High Court ordered the house arrest of him and three others arrested by the CBI in connection with the Narada sting tape case.

    Hakim, the state’s transport minister and chairman of the board of administrators of the KMC, came back to his Chetla residence in the evening, amid tight security.

    “We urged his supporters to not celebrate his return as he and the others are yet to get bail. Please ensure the court directive that there shouldn’t be any crowding in front of the residence,” one of his daughters said.

    Apart from Hakim, the high court earlier in the day ordered the house arrest of Panchayat Minister Subrata Mukherjee, Trinamool Congress MLA Madan Mitra and former Kolkata mayor Sovan Chatterjee.

    The court passed the direction modifying its earlier order that stayed their bail granted by a special CBI court on Monday when the four leaders were arrested.

    However, Mukherjee, Mitra and Chatterjee will not be able to return home immediately as they are undergoing treatment for various health conditions.

    Mitra, who had recently recovered from COVID-19, was diagnosed with severe pulmonary problems.

    “Mr Mitra’s condition is critical. He needs to be in hospital for treatment and is not in a position to be discharged,” one of the three doctors of the medical board constituted for the treatment of the three political leaders, said.

    Chatterjee, who suffers from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder (COPD) and is highly diabetic, has developed cirrhosis of the liver, he said.

    The doctor said Mukherjee is on nebuliser.

    “We have to continue their treatment. At the moment, they are under observation,” he added.

  • Mukul Roy suppressed Narada case information in poll affidavit, claims Trinamool

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The Trinamool Congress on Wednesday alleged that while filing nomination for the recently held assembly election, BJP vice-president and West Bengal MLA Mukul Roy suppressed in the affidavit that he was an accused in the Narada sting tape case.

    Another BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari mentioned the Narada case in his affidavit, but he did not specify the sections under which it was filed, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh claimed.

    While two TMC senior ministers and an MLA, besides a former party leader, were arrested by the CBI in the Narada sting tape case on Monday, Roy and Adhikari were not, though they too were accused in the case.

    The CBI also filed the chargesheet against the four in a special court on May 17.

    The TMC has claimed that the BJP is behind the episode.

    “It is necessary for a candidate to mention cases against him or her in the affidavit. Mukul Roy has suppressed the Narada case completely in his affidavit,” Ghosh said.

    ALSO READ | Narada case: Arrested Trinamool leaders to stay in jail; Governor raps Mamata government over protests in front of Raj Bhavan

    The TMC spokesperson wondered whether Roy had got the BJP’s assurance beforehand that he would not be touched in the Narada case.

    “In sharp contrast, our three arrested candidates – Subrata Mukherjee, Firhad Hakim and Madan Mitra – had referred to the Narada case in their affidavits,” he said.

    Ghosh said that the party will soon decide what steps would be taken on Roy’s “suppression of information in the affidavit”, but the BJP leader should resign from the assembly on moral grounds.

    Roy was not available for comments.

    The BJP-led government at the Centre has failed to control the COVID-19 pandemic and is now trying to divert peoples attention by “unnecessarily” arresting the leaders when coronavirus cases are surging, the TMC spokesperson claimed.

    Ghosh said that the TMC will not comment on the ongoing hearing at the Calcutta High Court on the Narada case and it has full faith in the judiciary.

    State BJP spokesman Shamik Bhattacharya said that the CBI was doing its job in the Narada sting tape case and the saffron party was unfairly being dragged into the issue.

    ALSO READ | CM Mamata, law minister Ghatak made parties in CBI petition before HC to transfer Narada case 

    The sting operation was conducted by journalist Mathew Samuel of Narada News, a web portal, in 2014 wherein some people resembling TMC ministers, MPs and MLAs were seen receiving money from representatives of a fictitious company in lieu of favours.

    At that time, the four arrested politicians were ministers in the Mamata Banerjee government.

    The sting operation was made public ahead of the 2016 assembly elections in West Bengal.

    The Calcutta High Court had ordered a CBI probe into the sting operation in March 2017.

  • Dhankhar vs Trinamool: Bengal Governor visits Assam camp sheltering people affected by post-poll violence

    By PTI
    DHUBRI: West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday visited a camp in Assam’s Ranpagli, where several families claiming to be BJP supporters have taken shelter after they had allegedly faced atrocities at the hands of ruling Trinamool Congress workers following the assembly elections.

    Accompanied by Nisith Pramanik, the BJP MP from Cooch Behar in north Bengal, Dhankhar went to the camp in Assam’s Dhubri district and interacted with the people, including women and children, who have taken refuge there.

    People at the shelter claimed to have fled their homes in Bengal after the poll results were out on May 2.

    They also alleged that their houses were “ransacked by Trinamool Congress goons”.

    The West Bengal governor travelled to the camp at Ranpagli by road from Cooch Behar as his helicopter could not take off owing to bad weather condition.

    Dhankhar had on Thursday visited various places in Cooch Behar and met people who were allegedly affected by the post-poll violence.

    He was shown black flags at Sitalkuchi, where four villagers died after firing by central forces during the elections, while “go back” slogans were raised at Dinhata during his visit to the district.

    The run-up to his visit was marked by a war of words between the governor and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

    The chief minister on Wednesday wrote to him claiming that his visit to the post-poll violence-affected Cooch Behar district violates norms, while Dhankhar hit back saying he was discharging duties mandated by the Constitution.

    He wrote back saying that he has been following the Constitution since taking oath as the governor and his visit to Cooch Behar was to share the pain and agony of the people suffering from the post-poll violence.

  • ‘People paying with lives for exercising voting rights, will visit violence-hit areas’: Bengal Governor

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Moments after administering oath to the ministers of the Mamata Banerjee government, Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday expressed concern over the situation arising out of post-poll violence in the state and said he would soon be visiting the affected areas.

    Dhankhar, while talking to reporters, also said that people are being made to pay with their lives for exercising their franchise.

    “The situation that arose out of post-poll violence is worrisome. I will be visiting the violence-hit areas in the state,” he underlined.

    The governor further said that the state administration was yet to respond to his request for necessary arrangements prior to his visit to the affected areas.

    “If your vote becomes a cause of your death or property destruction, if it leads to arson, then that signals the end of democracy,” he said.

    Clashes were reported from several places in Bengal following the declaration of assembly election results on May 2.

    Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee recently said at least 16 people have lost their lives in post-poll violence.

  • Narada sting tapes: Bengal Governor sanctions CBI prosecution of top ministers

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, on a request by the CBI, sanctioned the prosecution of Firhad Hakim, Subrata Mukherjee, Madan Mitra and Sovan Chatterjee, all of them ministers during the time of the alleged commission of a crime that came to light in the purported Narada sting tapes, a Raj Bhavan official said on Sunday.

    “Honourable governor is the competent authority to accord sanction in terms of law as he happens to be the appointing authority for such ministers in terms of Article 164 of the Constitution,” a statement issued by the officer on special duty (communication), Raj Bhavan, said.

    All four were ministers in the Mamata Banerjee cabinet when the tapes were allegedly made in 2014.

    Hakim, Mukherjee and Mitra have been re-elected as TMC MLAs in the just-concluded assembly elections, while Chatterjee, who left the TMC to join the BJP, has severed links with both the camps.

    The statement said that the sanction for prosecution of the four leaders was accorded by Dhankhar “after the CBI had made a request and made available entire documentation relevant to the case to the honourable governor and he invoked his powers under Article 163 and 164 of the Constitution, being the competent authority to accord such sanction”.

    The Narada sting tapes, made public before the 2016 assembly elections in West Bengal, were claimed to have been shot in 2014, wherein people resembling TMC ministers, MPs and MLAs were allegedly seen receiving money from representatives of a fictitious company in lieu of promised favours.

    The sting operation was allegedly conducted by Mathew Samuel of Narada News portal.

    The Calcutta High Court had ordered a CBI probe into the sting operation in March, 2017.