Tag: West Bengal Government

  • sandeshkhali: ‘Highly shameful’ even if only 1 pc of Sandeshkhali allegations true: Calcutta HC

    Observing that it would be “highly shameful” if even one per cent of the allegations of sexual assault in Sandeshkhali were found to be true, the Calcutta High Court on Thursday said that West Bengal’s image as the safest state for women will fall. Petitioner-lawyer Priyanka Tibrewal submitted a voluminous compilation before the court which she said contained around 100 affidavits of alleged victims of sexual assault, apart from those of land grabbing and violence.

    “If at least one per cent (of the allegations) is true, it is highly shameful,” a division bench presided by Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam said.

    The division bench was hearing a suo motu motion on alleged sexual assault and land grabbing at Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district and petitions seeking transfer of investigation of these cases to the CBI. Opposing the prayers for transfer of investigation, West Bengal’s Advocate General Kishore Dutta claimed before the division bench that central agencies have lost the trust posed in them.

    He questioned the conviction rate of central agencies in cases they were probing in the state, while the Enforcement Directorate’s counsel accused it of non-cooperation in taking forward investigations.

    Maintaining that it is shameful if even one of the affidavits is correct, the Chief Justice said, “The entire district administration and the ruling dispensation have to owe moral responsibility, 100 per cent responsibility.” He said that West Bengal boasts of a statistics report to be the safest state for women. “As per the NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau) report, West Bengal stands number one for safety of women; and if one affidavit filed by Tibrewal is proved to be right, the statistics falls, the public image falls, the opinion falls,” he said.

    “If it falls and crumbles, you cannot resurrect it,” he said.

    The court said that the world does not become dark if one closes his or her eyes.

    Tibrewal, who prayed for transfer of investigation to the CBI, placed before the division bench, also comprising Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya a number of complaints by alleged victims.

    Stating that she had gone to Sandeshkhali on three weekends along with other lawyers and notaries to record the affidavits, Tibrewal claimed that the voluminous files contained around 100 complaints by women alleging sexual assault, apart from several of alleged land grabbing and other instances of violence and destruction of property.

    Tibrewal also prayed for constitution of a committee by the court to look into the complaints and payment of compensation to the victims.

    The division bench had on March 7 granted permission to Tibrewal, who claimed to represent the victim women, to file an application/supplementary affidavit bringing on record whatever the alleged victims wish to place before this court.

    A report of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes was also filed by another petitioner-advocate Susmita Saha Dutta, who stated that she had visited Sandeshkhali on NCST’s invitation along with its members, before the court.

    After hearing the submissions of advocates on various prayers on Thursday, the division bench reserved judgment on the petitions.

    Accusing the state of non-cooperation, the central government’s Deputy Solicitor General Dhiraj Trivedi, representing the ED in this matter, asked how the central agencies could take forward the investigations in such a situation.

    He submitted that the high court has ordered investigations by central agencies in several cases in the state, including the violence following the 2021 West Bengal assembly elections, as the local police have been found wanting.

    The state’s Advocate General submitted that if required, a PIL can be instituted at the instance of the court as to how many CBI investigations were ordered by it in the last 10 years, and what are the results of those and what is the fate of the trials.

    He wondered about the conviction rate of the central probe agencies, like the CBI or the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

    Claiming that the court must be convinced that the people approaching it have no personal interest in the matter, Dutta asked what research was made by the persons who have come before the court on the Sandeshkhali issue.

    The AG stated that prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC are not in force anywhere in Sandeshkhali and things are under control.

    He prayed that the state police be allowed to investigate the complaints which have come forth.

    On the question raised by the AG as to why the alleged victim women did not come up with their complaints earlier, Tibrewal said it happens when general people cannot take atrocities anymore.

    She claimed to have moved a PIL before the high court in June 2017 over the alleged rape and murder of a 68-year-old woman in Sandeshkhali.

    Another petitioner-lawyer Alakh Alok Srivastava, who also sought transfer of probe of the sexual assault and land grabbing cases in Sandeshkhali to the CBI, submitted that it is a fit case for transfer to CBI when there are allegations of bias against the local police by the alleged victims.

    Advocate Jayanta Narayan Chatterjee, the amicus curiae appointed by the court in the matter, has already filed a report before it on the allegations of sexual atrocities on women and land grabbing of villagers.

  • BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari seeks action on West Bengal IAS officer for ‘renaming’ central projects

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari on Thursday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take action against an IAS officer of West Bengal for allegedly flouting service rules by renaming three central projects in an official order.

    Sharing his letter to the PM on Twitter, the BJP leader claimed that Uttar Dinajpur District Magistrate & Collector Arvind Kumar Mina, a central cadre officer, has renamed the central schemes to make them look like those of the state government and tried to “steal undue credit”.

    @PMOIndia@HMOIndia@jdhankhar1#Cabinet_Secretary_Rajiv_Gauba@BhallaAjay26@DARPG_GoI@DoPTGoI@IASassociation@chief_west #Hari_Krishna_Dwivedi@DMUttarDinajpur@arvind0403
    — Suvendu Adhikari • শুভেন্দু অধিকারী (@SuvenduWB) April 21, 2022
    Adhikari also posted a copy of that April 20 order on his Twitter handle after digitally marking the “renamed” schemes.

    The ruling Trinamool Congress claimed that Adhikari’s post exposes his ignorance about governance. “This order exposes political leaning & misplaced prejudice to promote the agenda of the ruling party of WB, i.e.to rebrand central government schemes as their own and try to steal undue credit,” the Nandigram MLA tweeted.

    He said that the IAS officer had referred to Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana as Bangla Awas Yojana, Swachh Bharat Mission as Mission Nirmal Bangla and Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana as Bangla Gram Sadak Yojana.

    In these projects, the cost is shared between the Centre and state governments in the ratio of 60:40 in most states. “I believe that you would look into the matter and if you feel my concern is genuine, then you would ask competent authorities to take proper action,” the letter read. The district magistrate could not be contacted.

    TMC national spokesperson Sukhendu Sekhar Roy told PTI: “Such comments by him (Adhikari) reveal his ignorance (about governance). There is little point in rebutting Suvendu Adhikari’s arguments and giving him undue importance.”

  • West Bengal government seeks more IAS, IPS officers from Centre as number of districts to rise

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: The West Bengal government on Monday decided to write to the Centre urging it to increase the allotment of IAS and IPS officers as the state administration is planning to raise the number of districts and that will require more such officials.

    State Industry Minister Partha Chatterjee claimed that some neighbouring states that are smaller than West Bengal have more IAS and IPS officers compared to what this state has.

    The state Cabinet on Monday okayed a proposal to constitute a panel of officials to recruit more West Bengal Civil Service (WBCS) and Police Service (WBPS) officers to run the administration more efficiently, Chatterjee said.

    “We have 23 districts and restructuring of the districts is being done. Some neighbouring smaller states with 20-22 districts have more IAS and IPS officers compared to what our state has. The CM has asked the chief secretary to write a letter to the USPC to increase the allotment of fresh IAS and IPS cadres for West Bengal because we will be having more districts,” he said.

    The Cabinet also decided to fill up a total of 11,551 vacancies in the health department with contractual temporary workers primarily for the infrastructure development in urban and rural areas, Chatterjee said. There will also be recruitment for 342 vacancies for data entry operators in the food and supplies departments, he added.

    The industry minister said that a decision was also taken to allot land to chip and semiconductor manufacturers at the state’s Silicon Valley Hub in the city. Chatterjee said the state Cabinet also decided to provide government jobs to the family members of 26 people who were killed in lightning strikes in Hooghly and Murshidabad districts last year.

    Transport Minister Firhad Hakim said that the Cabinet decided to streamline the fee structure of the trucks used for exports. “We have noticed that the fee structure for trucks taking goods across the border is abnormal. We have decided to streamline this,” he said.

    Hakim also said that it was also decided to allow the movement of vehicles carrying perishable goods on a priority basis so that exporters can avoid loss. He said that the department will soon be issuing a notification in this regard.

    Hakim said that the state Cabinet also okayed recruitment of staff on contractual basis for parking lots in land ports. The state government has taken direct control of the parking lots that were under the respective local bodies.

    He said that the transport department will pay the salary of the staff.

  • West Bengal government mandates staff to attend office during March 28, 29 trade union strike

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: The West Bengal government on Saturday asked all its employees to report for duty during the 48-hour nationwide strike on March 28 and 29, failing which they will be issued show-cause notices. The TMC dispensation, which has been opposed to bandhs as its official policy, said that no casual leave will be granted to employees except in emergency situations such as illness or death in the family.

    Several trade unions, including those of the Left Front and the Congress but barring the ones belonging to the BJP and the TMC, have called for a two-day nationwide strike against the Centre’s economic policies.

    In a notification issued from state secretariat Nabanna, Principal Secretary Manoj Pant said that any employee remaining absent for two days or either of the days without permission shall be asked for an explanation.

    “In view of call given by different trade unions and others for a 48-hour nationwide strike on 28th and 29th March, 2022, it has been decided that all state government offices shall remain open and all the employees shall report for duty on those days.

    “It has been decided that no casual leave or any other leave for absence either in the first half or in the second half or for the whole day shall be granted to any employee on the above-mentioned dates,” the notification said.

    It said that the absence of employees on the two days shall be treated as ‘dies-non’ and no salary will be admissible unless covered by grounds of hospitalisation, bereavement in family, several illness, or staffers on maternity, child care, medical or earned leave before March 25.

    “All Heads of Offices/Controlling Authorities concerned will issue Show-Cause notice to the employee(s) concerned, who will remain absent on March 28, 2022 and March 29, 2022 or on any of these 2 (two) dates, asking him/her to explain why action would not be taken against him/her for such unauthorised absence. On receipt of satisfactory reply, leave due and admissible may be granted on production of documentary evidence on the grounds mentioned above,” it said.

    Those not responding to the show-cause notice shall be liable to disciplinary action, the notification said. All course of action regarding this order should be completed by April 13, it added.

  • Jurisdiction extension gives no extra power to agency: BSF ADG YB Khurania

    By Express News Service

    KOLKATA:  Reacting to the objection raised by West Bengal government to extending the BSF’s jurisdiction from 15 to 50 km from the Bangladesh border, the ADG of the paramilitary force, YB Khurania, said the agency has limited powers and no authority to intervene in the state’s law and order affairs. He also said the allegation that BSF personnel harassed women in the name of searching was very unfortunate.

    “We don’t interfere in the state’s law and order affairs. We don’t have the power to file FIRs. We focus on smuggling and infiltration. We maintain a good relation with the state police and exchange information with them. The notification (increasing jurisdiction) doesn’t give additional power to the BSF,” he said.

    Khurania said that the BSF would continue to function in the 50 km jurisdiction in the same way as it had functioned in the earlier jurisdiction.

    Refuting the TMC government’s allegation of women being harassed by the BSF personnel, Khurania said, “This (claim) is unfortunate and baseless. We have more than 4,000 women staff and soldiers. CCTVs are installed at all entry points of the border area.”

  • Bangladesh attacks: Bengal govt asks dist administrations to be on alert against attempt to foment trouble

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: The West Bengal government has alerted its district administrations, particularly those bordering Bangladesh, against the misuse of social media and circulation of fake news related to the recent spate of attacks during Durga puja in the neighbouring country, and urged them to take measures to maintain law and order, a top official said on Monday.

    All state agencies have been asked to be on toes to combat any attempt to create disturbances anywhere in Bengal amid the ongoing idol immersion ceremonies and observance of Fateha-Dwaz-Daham, he said.

    “The government has asked district administrations, especially those bordering Bangladesh, to exercise caution against fake news circulation on the violence and vandalism in the neighbouring country.

    All agencies have been told to keep vigil and thwart attempts to create tension,” the official added.

    A similar word of caution was also issued to senior police officers by Additional Director General (Intelligence Branch).

    “Since 13.10.21, social media platforms have been flooded with posts of vandalism of Durga Puja pandals in Bangladesh.

    “Centering these issues, districts along Indo-Bangla border have become hyper sensitive and the leaders of different Hindu fundamentalist organisations of India pro-active.

    “You are requested to sensitise you officers and men under your control and keep sharp vigil to avoid any untoward incident,” the message by the ADGP said.

    On Sunday, the West Bengal Police had retweeted posts by the Asansol-Durgapur police and Purba Medinipur SP, warning people with the intention of spreading misinformation of severe consequences as brawls were reported over multiple issues in the two areas.

    “Some people are spreading wrong information that bombs were hurled at Puja pandals and damage was done, giving (the incidents) communal colour and trying to disturb peace in the area. Strong legal action will be taken for spreading such wrong and misleading information,” the tweet by the Asansol-Durgapur police said.

  • West Bengal government mulls for lateral entry in bureaucracy in senior positions

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: The Mamata Banerjee government is mulling following in the footsteps of the BJP-led central government by opting for lateral entry into the bureaucracy in senior positions such as Special Secretary and Joint Secretaries, a senior official said on Tuesday.

    The lateral entry scheme could see these officials posted in different departments as advisors. The details of their exact job profile and responsibilities have however not yet been “chalked out”, according to the official. “All these appointments will be contractual for a specific period only. Their eligibility criteria will be equivalent to an IAS official,” the IAS officer said.

    He added that according to plans the minimum eligibility for such lateral entrants would be 15 years of relevant experience. The pay and perks of these lateral entry officers would be worked out by the state Home Personnel and Administrative Reforms department.

    Another highly-placed source, who declined to be named, said that the government would advertise for the appointments for lateral recruitment. “Anyone with a minimum experience of 15 years in the fields of civil aviation, commerce, economic affairs will be eligible for the positions. As of now, it has been decided that the age of the candidate should not be less than 40 years,” he added.

    The proposal may be sent to the chief minister’s office for a final nod of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the senior officer added. However, despite several attempts a confirmation from state home secretary BP Gopalika could not be gained.

    In 2018, the Centre had stated that the lateral entry scheme would fulfil the twin purpose of bringing in domain expertise in the civil services and address the problem of shortage of IAS officers they have been facing.

    This February, the central government had advertised 30 posts at the level of joint secretaries and directors for lateral recruitment. The UPSC advertisement made that month sought online applications for ministries, departments, PSUs, autonomous bodies for positions that were on contract for a period of three years.

  • ED’s plea to quash notices issued by police not maintainable: West Bengal government to Delhi HC

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The West Bengal government Tuesday contended before the Delhi High Court that the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) plea seeking quashing of two notices issued against its officers pursuant to an FIR lodged by TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee is “not maintainable”.

    Due to paucity of time, Justice Yogesh Khanna could not hear the matter at length and listed the ED’s petition for hearing on September 24.

    ED has alleged that the West Bengal Police is acting at the behest of Banerjee, who “enjoys clout” in the state government, to derail the probe into an alleged coal pilferage scam.

    It has sought a direction to quash two notices issued against its officers pursuant to an FIR lodged by Banerjee in April.

    In April, on a complaint by the TMC MP, an FIR was lodged by local police in West Bengal under the Indian Penal Code for alleged commission of offences of forgery of records, forgery for purpose of harming reputation and defamation.

    During the brief hearing, senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, representing the West Bengal government, said the petition was not maintainable.

    He also submitted how can ED file a petition in Delhi High Court for a relief which relates to an FIR lodged in West Bengal.

    Additional Solicitor General S V Raju and advocate Amit Mahajan, appearing for ED, urged that there shall be no coercive steps taken against the ED officials till the next date of hearing.

    “Why should they be harassed and called to West Bengal,” the ED counsel said.

    Taking note of ED’s submission, the court orally said, “Mr.Luthra please see that nothing happens till the next date of hearing.”

    The ED has contended that the notices issued on July 22 and August 21, pursuant to the FIR are patently illegal, malafide and a “counter blast” to the investigation in the coal pilferage case.

    The ED, in its petition before the high court, said that in order to pressurise its officers probing the case under Prevention of Money Laundering Act, Banerjee, who is the nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee and under scanner in the case, lodged an FIR in April.

    ED has sought a direction to quash two notices issued against its officers and any other subsequent notices that may be issued in the FIR, saying that they amount to an abuse of process of law.

    “The notices will not stand scrutiny even for a minute,” Raju had earlier argued.

    The petition said that pursuant to this FIR, two notices were issued by the Sub Inspector, Special Cell (GS), DD of Kalighat Police Station, Kolkata to ED officers performing their statutory functions in the Headquarters in Delhi.

    The complainant in the instant FIR is a political heavy weight and enjoys clout in the West Bengal government.

    The West Bengal Police is acting at his behest to derail the investigation being carried out by Enforcement Directorate, the plea said.

    “It is pertinent to mention that the investigation into the illegal coal mining and the role of the complainant therein Abhishek Banerjee is being investigated by the Directorate of Enforcement in exercise of its statutory powers under PMLA in the Headquarters at New Delhi,” it added.

    The petition said that based on “reasonable belief and evidences”, the probe agency issued summons to Banerjee for his appearance on three occasions, out of which he appeared only once on September 6.

    “In order to pressurise the petitioners/ IOs investigating the case related to illegal coal mining, Abhishek Banerjee lodged an FIR on April 5, 2021, against a news channel and in furtherance of the same, notices have been issued to the IOs investigating the case of illegal coal mining by the West Bengal Police. The said FIR has been registered with a malafide intention to derail the investigation under PMLA being conducted by the Directorate of Enforcement,” the plea said.

    It alleged that the issuance of notices against ED officers is “malafide and with the oblique motive and intent at stifling the fair and impartial investigation being undertaken by Enforcement Directorate for unearthing large financial scams / frauds taking place in the State of West Bengal and the country”.

    It also claimed that the motive behind registration of the FIR and the subsequent issuance of notices is “only to harass the officers of the Directorate and to use the State Police Machinery to halt the investigation being conducted by the officers of the Directorate against highly placed persons in the State Government of West Bengal and their suspected role in the offence of money laundering”.

  • Shocking things happening in state, cases being ‘en masse’ transferred to CBI: Bengal government tells SC

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The West Bengal government Monday alleged before the Supreme Court that “shocking things” have happened in the state and cases were being transferred “en masse” to CBI including the dacoity cases.

    Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the state, told a bench comprising Justices Vineet Saran and Aniruddha Bose that whenever there is an allegation that a probe is not being carried fairly, the court takes the facts into account and then transfers the case to CBI after a prima facie conclusion.

    “In this case, en masse the cases were given to the CBI. Some of the most shocking things have happened. In one case, the man is alive. In the meantime, CBI is also investigating dacoity cases. All kinds of things are happening,” Sibal told the bench.

    The top court was hearing a special leave petition filed by the state government alleging that it did not expect fair and just investigation by the central agency which is busy foisting cases against the functionaries of ruling Trinamool Congress Party.

    As the hearing commenced, Sibal told the top court that he would need two-three hours to make submissions but the bench said that it won’t be able to hear the matter today due to lack of time and would take it up next week.

    “By consent of the learned counsel for the parties, list on September 28, 2021 as a first case. The parties are permitted to file documents/additional documents by September 24, 2021 after serving the copy of the same on the other side,” the bench said.

    Earlier, the state government had cast aspersions on the members of a committee formed by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to investigate the incidents of post-poll violence in the state.

    The state government had said that the panel chief Rajiv Jain has served as Director of the Intelligence Bureau under the BJP-led government at the Centre.

    It had also said that “Jain was subsidiary intelligence bureau chief, Ahmedabad from 2005 to 2008 when the honourable Prime Minister was the chief minister of Gujarat.”

    Contending about another member, Sibal had said that Atif Rasheed served as Delhi State Prabhari BJP Minority Morcha and still tweets in support of BJP.

    “Can you imagine these people have been appointed to collect the data? Is this a BJP investigating committee my Lords?” Sibal had said.

    Commenting on Sibal’s submission, the bench said, “If somebody had a political past and if he lands up in an official position by that very fact will we treat him to be biased?”

    Earlier, lawyer Anindya Sundar Das, one of the PIL petitioners on whose plea the High Court August 19 verdict came, had filed a caveat in the apex court urging that no order be passed without hearing him if the state or other litigant move appeals.

    A five-judge bench of the High Court, headed by Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal, had ordered a CBI investigation into all alleged cases of heinous crimes in West Bengal after the assembly poll results this year in which the ruling TMC came back to power.

    As regards other criminal cases related to post-poll violence, the high court had directed that they be investigated by a Special Investigation Team under the monitoring of the court.

    The high court bench, which also comprised justices I P Mukerji, Harish Tandon, Soumen Sen and Subrata Talukdar, had observed that there were “definite and proved” allegations that complaints of the victims of violence in the aftermath of the West Bengal assembly polls were not even registered.

    Ordering the setting up of an SIT to probe all other cases, it had said that it will include Suman Bala Sahoo, Soumen Mitra and Ranveer Kumar, all IPS officers of the West Bengal cadre.

    “All the cases where, as per the report of the Committee, the allegations are about murder of a person and crime against women regarding rape/attempt to rape, shall be referred to CBI for investigation,” it had said.

    The high court has also directed the NHRC committee, constituted by its chairman on a direction by the five-judge bench, and any other commission or authority and the state to immediately hand over the records of the cases to the CBI to carry forward the probe.

    The bench had said it will monitor the investigations by both the CBI and the SIT and asked the two agencies to submit status reports to the court within six weeks.

    It had said that the working of the SIT will be overseen by a retired Judge of the Supreme Court for which a separate order will be passed after obtaining his/her consent.

    In its ruling, the bench had said heinous crimes such as murder and rape “deserve to be investigated by an independent agency which in the circumstances can only be Central Bureau of Investigation”.

    The bench had said the state failed to register FIRs even in some cases of alleged murder.

    “This shows a pre-determined mind to take the investigation into a particular direction,” it had said.

    “Under such circumstances investigation by an independent agency will inspire confidence in all concerned,” it had noted.

    It had said allegations that the police had not registered a number of cases initially and that some were registered only after the court had intervened or the committee was constituted were found to be true.

    It had observed that the facts in relation to the allegations made in the PILs are “even more glaring” as the incidents are not isolated to one place in the state.

    The NHRC committee had on July 13 submitted its final report to the court.

    An interim report of the NHRC committee had mentioned that Atif Rasheed, a member of the committee, was obstructed from discharging his duty and he and his team members were attacked by some undesirable elements on June 29 in Jadavpur area on the southern fringe of the city, the court noted.

    The PILs had alleged that people were subjected to assault, made to flee homes and properties were destroyed during the violence in the wake of the assembly elections and sought impartial probe into the incidents.

  • Bengal post-poll violence: SC to hear on September 20 plea against HC order directing CBI probe

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday said it would hear on September 20 the West Bengal government’s appeal challenging the Calcutta High Court order directing court-monitored CBI probe into the heinous cases of rape and murder during the post-poll violence in the state after accepting the an NHRC panel’s recommendations.

    A bench comprising Justices Vineet Saran and Aniruddha Bose deferred the matter to go through a chart submitted by the state government.

    Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the state government, pointed to the members of the committee that has been formed to investigate the incidents and said, “Can you imagine these people have been appointed to collect the data? Is this a BJP investigating committee my Lords?” He further said that for cases like rape and murder there is the CBI and for other events, there is a Special Investigative Team (SIT).

    The apex court then observed, “If somebody had a political past and if he lands up in an official position by that very fact will we treat him to be biased?” Sibal submitted that the members are still posting posts related to BJP and how can chairman of Human Rights Committee appoint such members? He sought some interim order in the meantime.

    he apex court then said that it would hear the case on September 20. “Nothing will happen. We’ll have it on Monday,” the bench said.

    The state government in its special leave petition alleged that it did not expect fair and just investigation by the central agency which is busy foisting cases against the functionaries of ruling Trinamool Congress Party.

    Earlier, lawyer Anindya Sundar Das, one of the PIL petitioners on whose plea the High Court August 19 verdict came, had filed a caveat in the apex court urging that no order be passed without hearing him if the state or other litigant move appeals.

    A five-judge bench of the High Court, headed by Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal, had ordered a CBI investigation in all alleged cases of heinous crimes in West Bengal after the assembly poll results this year in which the ruling TMC came back to power.

    As regards other criminal cases related to post-poll violence, the high court had directed that they be investigated by a Special Investigation Team under the monitoring of the court.

    The high court bench, which also comprised justices IP Mukerji, Harish Tandon, Soumen Sen and Subrata Talukdar, had observed that there were “definite and proved” allegations that complaints of the victims of violence in the aftermath of the West Bengal assembly polls were not even registered.

    Ordering setting up of an SIT to probe all other cases, it had said that it will include Suman Bala Sahoo, Soumen Mitra and Ranveer Kumar, all IPS officers of the West Bengal cadre. “All the cases where, as per the report of the Committee, the allegations are about murder of a person and crime against women regarding rape/attempt to rape, shall be referred to CBI for investigation,” it had said.

    The high court has also directed the NHRC committee, constituted by its chairman on a direction by the five-judge bench, and any other commission or authority and the state to immediately hand over the records of the cases to the CBI to carry forward the probe.

    The bench had said it will monitor the investigations by both the CBI and the SIT and asked the two agencies to submit status reports to the court within six weeks. It had said that the working of the SIT will be overseen by a retired Judge of the Supreme Court for which a separate order will be passed after obtaining his/her consent.

    In its ruling, the bench had said heinous crimes such as murder and rape “deserve to be investigated by an independent agency which in the circumstances can only be Central Bureau of Investigation”. The bench had said the State failed to register FIRs even in some cases of alleged murder.

    “This shows a pre-determined mind to take the investigation into a particular direction. Under such circumstances investigation by independent agency will inspire confidence to all concerned,” it had noted.

    It had said allegations that the police had not registered a number of cases initially and that some were registered only after the court had intervened or the committee was constituted were found to be true. It had observed that the facts in relation to the allegations made in the PILs are “even more glaring” as the incidents are not isolated to one place in the state.

    The NHRC committee had on July 13 submitted its final report to the court.

    An interim report of the NHRC committee had mentioned that Atif Rasheed, a member of the committee, was obstructed from discharging his duty and he and his team members were attacked by some undesirable elements on June 29 in Jadavpur area on the southern fringe of the city, the court noted.

    The PILs had alleged that people were subjected to assault, made to flee homes and properties were destroyed during the violence in the wake of the assembly elections and sought impartial probe into the incidents.