News Analysis India

Tag: West Bengal

  • Supreme Court to hear plea of Mamata govt on June 22 on filing of affidavits in Narada sting case

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Friday decided to hear on June 22 the appeals against Calcutta High Court’s denial for filing of affidavits by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Law Minister Moloy Ghatak on their role on the day of arrest of four leaders on May 17 by the CBI in connection with the Narada sting tape case.

    A vacation bench of justices Hemant Gupta and V Ramasubramanian, meanwhile, requested the high court not to hear the case on Monday but a day after the apex court considers the appeals of the state government and Ghatak against the order.

    “List on Tuesday. Mr Solicitor General (Tushar Mehta) has put in appearance. The copy of the special leave petitions (SLPs) be served ion him. In the meantime, we hope that the High Court defers the hearing scheduled on Monday before it to Wednesday,” the bench said in the order.

    On June 9, a five-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court, hearing CBI’s application for transfer of the Narada sting tape case from the special CBI court to the high court, had said it will decide later on considering the affidavits by the Banerjee and Ghatak on their respective roles on the day of the arrest of four leaders in connection with the case.

    Senior advocates Rakesh Dwivedi and Vikas Singh appeared for the law minister and the state government and said it was necessary to bring on record the affidavits of the high court as they deal with the roles of the persons concerned on May 17.

    The law minister was attending the cabinet meeting and was not in the court premises at the time of hearing, Dwivedi said, adding that even the CBI officials were not there on the spot as the lawyer for the agency addressed the court virtually.

    It has been alleged that the state ruling party leaders played key role in stopping CBI from performing its legal duty after arresting four leaders on May 17 in the case.

    “You may not be partly correct. It was stated that he (law minister) was in court,” the bench observed.

    “The CBI is an agency which aims to find the truth. They were themselves in CBI office and addressed the court virtually. They do not know as to what happened in the court. The law minister is yet to address court on this,” Dwivedi said.

    Singh said that under the rules there is a right to file affidavits and, moreover, CBI filed as many as three affidavits and did not take the permission of the court.

    The high court, which on June 9 decided to consider later the affidavits of Banerjee and Ghatak, was urged by the Solicitor General that the affidavits cannot be accepted on the ground of delay as they were filed after the completion of his arguments.

    The CBI, which has filed an application seeking transfer of the Narada sting tape case from the special CBI court to the high court, has made the chief minister and the law minister parties in its plea there.

    It had claimed that while the Chief Minister had sat on a dharna at the CBI office in Kolkata soon after the arrest of the four accused, Ghatak had been present at the Banshall Court premises during the virtual hearing of the case before the special CBI court there on May 17.

    Ministers Subrata Mukherjee and Firhad Hakim, Trinamool Congress MLA Madan Mitra and former mayor of Kolkata Sovan Chatterjee were arrested by the CBI which is investigating the Narada sting tape case on a 2017 order of the high court.

    The five-judge bench, comprising Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and justices I P Mukerji, Harish Tandon, Soumen Sen and Arijit Banerjee, had adjourned the hearing and fixed the case for further hearing on Monday.

    The bench had granted interim bail on May 28 to the four accused.

    The special CBI court had granted them bail on May 17 itself, but the order was stayed by the high court, which remanded them to judicial custody.

    They had been placed under house arrest on May 21 by the high court, modifying its earlier order of stay on the bail.

    The Narada 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.

  • Have written thrice to PM to withdraw Dhankhar as Governor, says West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday took a dig at Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar’s New Delhi visit as she said a “child can be cajoled into silence” but not an elderly man, noting that she has thrice written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to withdraw him from the state.

    Calling the governor a “Centre’s man”, Banerjee refrained from commenting much on his meeting with President Ram Nath Kovind and several other union ministers in Delhi.

    “What can I say? A child can be cajoled into silence. In this case, speech is silver; silence is golden,” she said.

    Asked about media reports suggesting that the governor might be removed, Banerjee said she is not aware of any such development.

    “How do I know? When a governor is appointed, the state government is consulted. That, however, was not done in this case. I have written twice or thrice to the Prime Minister seeking his withdrawal from the state,” she said.

    Dhankhar, who has shared a strained relationship with the TMC government since taking charge as the governor of the state in 2019, is in the national capital on a four-day trip.

    ALSO READ: CM Mamata Banerjee condemns attack on Twitter, says govt trying to control everyone they can’t manage

    He has not specified any reason for the visit.

    The governor met Union ministers Prahlad Joshi and Prahlad Singh Patel on Wednesday.

    He also held a meeting with President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan earlier in the day.

    Dhankhar is scheduled to meet Home Minister Amit Shah later in the day.

    The chief minister, when enquired if Raj Bhavan appointing several ‘officers on special duty’ has mounted pressure on the state exchequer, maintained that she wouldn’t have the details offhand.

    The ruling TMC in West Bengal on Wednesday accused Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar of violating constitutional norms and requested him not to return to the state.

    Left Front chairman in the state and CPI(M) leader, Biman Bose, slammed the governor for allegedly acting like a BJP mouthpiece and condemned his “partisan” role.

    State BJP president Dilip Ghosh, however, stated that the TMC has “no respect for the Constitution”.

    “The governor is doing the right thing, and that is why the TMC dispensation does not like it. The Centre appoints him, and it is obvious that he has to report various developments to the Union government,” Ghosh asserted.

  • West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee relaunches scheme doubling farmers’ aid to Rs 10,000

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday relaunched her government’s Krishak Bandhu scheme, doubling the assistance to farmer- beneficiaries to Rs 10,000 a year.

    She said that day labourers in farmlands and share croppers in possession of at least one katha (0.0165 acre) of land will now receive Rs 4,000 a year, instead of Rs 2,000 they used to get earlier.

    Banerjee also said that the respective boards of the state on Friday will announce the evaluation process for examinations of classes 10 and 12, that have been cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic situation.

    “Our (Krishak Bandhu) project is more inclusive than the Centre’s (PM-Kisan scheme). People having small patches of farmland are not included in the Central project. We think about every section of the farming community,” the chief minister told a press conference.

    The Krishak Bandhu scheme, launched in 2018, used to provide farmers having one or more acres of landholding with an annual amount of Rs 5,000 (minimum Rs 2,000 per annum assistance on pro-rata basis).

    Under the PM-Kisan scheme, Rs 6,000 per year in three equal instalments is provided to small and marginal farmer families having a combined landholding of up to two hectares.

    Around 2.47 acres make one hectare.

    The chief minister said that Rs 290 crore was released by her government on Thursday for 9.78 lakh farmers for providing the assistance as part of the Krishak Bandhu scheme.

    ALSO READ: CM Mamata Banerjee condemns attack on Twitter, says govt trying to control everyone they can’t manage

    The West Bengal Cabinet on June 10 gave its green signal to increase the assistance to farmer-beneficiaries from Rs 5,000 per acre per year to Rs 10,000 under the scheme.

    Around 68.38 lakh small and marginal farmers will be benefitted from it.

    Banerjee claimed that West Bengal is an exception from many other parts of the country where farmers die regularly and have to agitate on road for over six months.

    Stating that her government has so far spent a huge amount as insurance premium for the farmers, she said, “After the death of a farmer, we give Rs 2 lakh to the next of kin.”

    Banerjee told reporters that the state government has provided 70 lakh Kisan Credit Cards to farmers and 20 lakh more such cards will be given in future to help them buy equipment.

    In a Twitter post, she said, “I am happy to announce that GoWB is relaunching the #KrishakBandhu Scheme by doubling the annual financial support for all farmers & share-croppers.

    “Farmers will now receive an increased financial support from Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 for one acre or more of cultivable land.”

    She said that about 2 lakh Cyclone Yaas affected farmers were being given ‘Nona Swarna Dhaan’ kit comprising high yield saline water proof paddy seeds and other items required for growing paddy on the land submerged by sea waters in South and North 24 Parganas and Purba Medinipur districts.

    In the press conference held at the state secretariat, she said, “Not a single rupee has been received from the Centre as compensation for the damage caused by the cyclone which battered the state less than a month back.

    The evaluation method for Madhyamik (class 10) and Uchcha Madhyamik (class 12) will be announced by the respective boards on June 18, a week after the exams were cancelled.

    Based on the evaluation, results will be announced by July, she said.

    The West Bengal Board of Secondary Education conducts the Madhyamik while the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education holds the Uchcha Madhyamik exams.

    On Wednesday night’s downpour which lashed the city inundating areas, she said, “Kolkata didn’t see such rain in recent times with 179 mm rainfall recorded within a few hours.”

    The administrations of districts like Hooghly, Howrah, Paschim Medinipur and Purba Bardhaman were asked to be on guard as neighbouring states release water from barrages during heavy rains, Banerjee said.

    “We are also keeping a tab on the water level of the Ganga which is swollen. That is why it is taking time for water to recede from waterlogged areas,” she added.

  • Bengal STF takes charge of probe of Chinese national arrested from India-Bangladesh border by BSF

    By ANI
    KOLKATA: West Bengal Special Task Force (STF) on Tuesday took the charge of the investigation of the Chinese national, who was apprehended from the India-Bangladesh Border in West Bengal last week.

    On June 10, the BSF had arrested 35-year-old Chinese national, Han Junwe while he was trying to cross the India-Bangladesh international boundary illegally. On being asked to stop, Junwe tried to run away but was chased and caught by BSF personnel.

    He was then taken to the Border Out Post Interrogation and his passport revealed that he had gone to Dhaka, Bangladesh on June 2 on a business visa, where he stayed with a Chinese friend. On June 8, he reached Sona Masjid in Bangladesh’s Chapai Nawabganj district.

    While trying to enter inside the Indian territory on Thursday morning, he was caught by BSF troops.

    “When troops questioned him, he didn’t give a satisfactory reply. Immediately agencies concerned and the local police were informed. Agencies are questioning him,” BSF sources had said.

    According to the BSF statement, during interrogation, Junwe had revealed that he had previously visited India four times– Hyderabad in 2010, and Delhi and Gurugram thrice after 2019. He also said that he has a hotel in Gurugram called ‘Star Spring’.

    He had further said that when he had gone to his hometown of Hubei, one of his business partners, namely Sun Jiang, used to send him 10-15 numbers belonging to Indian mobile phone SIM cards and after a few days, they are received by him and his wife.

    But a few days ago, his business partner was caught by ATS in Lucknow and he mentioned Junwe and his wife. A case was registered against them in ATS Lucknow due to which he was not able to get an Indian visa in China.

    He, however, managed a visa from Bangladesh and Nepal, so that he could come to India.

    BSF had said that a thorough search of the intruder produced one laptop, two mobile phones, one Bangladeshi SIM cars, one Indian SIM card, two Chinese SIM cards, two pen drives, three batteries, two small torch lights, five Money Transaction Machines, two ATM/Master Card, US Dollars, Bangladeshi Taka and Indian currency. 

  • Former TMC leader Vinay Mishra sends legal notice to BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari

    By ANI
    KOLKATA: Former TMC leader Vinay Mishra on Tuesday served a legal notice to the Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari, demanding to delete his June 11 “false” tweet, in which he said that Mishra renounced Indian citizenship but was made general secretary of TMC youth wing in 2020.

    Former TMC leader who is facing an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in cattle and coal smuggling cases, has sent the legal notice to Adhikari through his lawyer which states that “In a tweet dated 11 June 2021 published from Twitter handle “@SuvenduWB”, you have made a factually incorrect and malicious statement against my client.”

    On June 11, Adhikari had tweeted, “In year 2018 Vinay Mishra seems to be a Citizen of VANUATU and renouncing Indian citizenship. In year 2020 the same person is made the General Secretary of TMC Youth wing. Drawing the kind attention of ECI, Does Indian law permit a foreigner to be a part of a political party?”

    Against this, Mishra in the legal notice said he had left India on September 16, 2020, much prior to when the CBI initiated a case against him in cattle and coal smuggling cases. At the time, he was appointed as the Trinamool youth wing general secretary and was a citizen of India.

    He had resigned from the post of General Secretary prior to the surrendering of his passport on December 19, 2020.

    The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has issued a red corner notice against Mishra in a case of cattle smuggling.

    On June 7, during a hearing, Mishra’s lawyers filed an affidavit stating he renounced his citizenship on December 19 last year by filing an application at the Indian Consulate in Dubai. The application was accepted on December 22, the affidavit said. 

  • Six arrested in West Bengal’s Alipurduar for thrashing, stripping woman

    By ANI
    ALIPURDUAR: Six people, residents of Paschim Chengmar village in Alipurduar district, were arrested for stripping and parading naked a woman, informed the police on Tuesday.

    According to the police, the incident took place on Thursday night at Paschim Changmari village under Kumargram police station limits in West-Bengal’s Alipurduar district when a group of villagers belonging to the tribal community tortured a tribal woman, tore open her clothes and paraded her naked.

    It is reported the woman had left her husband recently and had gone with another man. However, she returned to her first husband who accepted her. But villagers started protesting against the woman and allegedly tortured her.

    Bholanath Pandey, SP, Alipurduar said, “A group of villagers belonging to a tribal community tortured a tribal woman on Thursday night. We acted immediately and informed Officer in Change, Khamakhaguri under Kumargram police station, arrested six persons. We applied for 14 days remand, got 12 days for further investigation. Raids are on to arrest the other accused persons and action will be taken as per law.”

    The police said, after the incident, the woman went to her father’s house in Assam without informing the police. Later the district police brought the victim back and encouraged her to file a police complaint, on the basis of which, the police took the initiative and arrested six accused persons, the police added. 

  • GST Council has turned majoritarian, decisions not taken by consensus: Bengal Minister Amit Mitra

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra on Monday alleged that the GST council has turned majoritarian and decisions were no longer taken on the basis of a consensus as originally envisaged.

    He also said voices of the Group of Ministers in the council remained unheard.

    Mitra said that he had tried his best to “raise objections” during the 44th GST Council meeting on Saturday, but the virtual link was snapped at a “critical time”.

    The veteran economist demanded a probe into how and who had “muted” his microphone when the meeting was in progress.

    “Authoritarianism and majoritarianism have taken over the GST Council. It’s most unfortunate,” he told reporters.

    ALSO READ: Covid drugs, tools get cheaper, GST Council decides to maintain status quo on vaccine tax

    Mitra had also written a letter to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman after the meeting to record his “dissent” against decisions of the council.

    “I was heard repeatedly in the meeting. But during the concluding part, I kept on raising my hand and you could see me. All (other) microphones were unmuted by the Centre’s web management team.

    “My microphone was muted and I could see it. I am not a fool. Please investigate and let me know. Why was my microphone muted at a critical time when I wanted to put across my dissent? I am giving the benefit of doubt,” he said on Monday.

    Stressing that he shared a “very cordial relationship” with Sitharaman, Mitra said he is yet to receive a reply from her.

    Mitra had Saturday termed the GST Council’s decision not to reduce taxes on COVID-19 vaccines as “anti-people”.

    The council has slashed tax rates on coronavirus drugs such as Remdesivir and Tocilizumab as well as on medical oxygen and oxygen concentrators, but ignored demands for a reduction in taxes on vaccines.

  • Return of turncoats sparks uneasiness in Trinamool Congress also

    Express News Service
    KOLKATA: Mukul Roy’s ghar wapsi has sparked concerns not only in the BJP but also in West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress. The worry in the BJP camp is over the possibility of more Trinamool Congress turncoats in the party following Roy’s footsteps.

    Meanwhile, the return of Roy and the possibility of others following him have caused unease among a section of TMC workers who are opposed to the induction of “traitors” who attacked the party while campaigning for the recent Assembly elections. 

    Concerns have mounted after former Trinamool Congress minister Rajib Banerjee, who is now in the saffron camp, held talks with TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh on Saturday. “Now he (Rajib) is criticising BJP for its divisive politics. But before the election, he organised a rally comprising Hindu hardliners and used the Election Commission against TMC workers in Domjur. He visited Kunal’s house but it doesn’t mean that he washed all his sins by taking a holy dip in the Ganges,” said Serampore Kalyan Banerjee, a TMC MP. Rajib contested from Domjur constituency for the BJP, but failed to win.

    There is also strong buzz that former TMC MLA Sabyasachi Dutta, who joined the BJP, is set to follow his mentor Roy into the party. It was Roy, who is known for his ability to poach functionaries from rival camps, who brought Dutta to the saffron party.

    Some in the TMC have already raised their voice against Dutta’s possible induction. TMC minister Sujit Bose is one of them. “The party will take the decision. But if the leadership wants to know my opinion, I will let them know my stance on his return,” said Dutta.

    Even when Dutta was in the TMC, a rift between him and Bose had surfaced on many occasions. While campaigning for the election, Dutta had aggressively attacked Bose. Not just Dutta and Rajib, at least eight MLAs and an MP from north Bengal are expected to jump ship to the Trinamool Conrgess as an after-effect of Roy’s return to his old battle-pitch.

  • Trawler capsizes in river near Nandigram, one dead, three missing

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: A trawler capsized in the Haldi river in West Bengal’s Purba Medinipur district, killing a fisherman, while three others were missing, an official said on Sunday.

    The incident happened on Saturday night near Nandigram when the trawler with 14 fishermen on board was anchored at the mouth of a canal where it meets the Haldi river, he said.

    The fishermen had anchored the trawler as they wanted to have dinner before setting out for fishing, he added.

    The trawler toppled due to high tide, and the fishermen fell into the river.

    Ten of them either managed to swim to safety or were rescued, while four others went missing, the official said.

    A body was fished out in the early hours of Sunday, he said.

    A search is underway for those missing, the official said.

  • Congress leader Adhir urges PM to treat Bengal river bank erosion as national disaster, release funds

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Saturday requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to treat large-scale river bank erosion in Malda and Murshidabad districts of West Bengal as a national disaster and release adequate funds for mitigation.

    In a letter to the prime minister, the senior Congress leader, who is also the party’s state unit chief, said that large chunks of fertile lands have been lost to the Ganga, which flows through the two minority-dominated districts, rendering lakhs of people homeless and making them “neo- refugees”.

    “They become landless and lose their livelihood. Sometimes, poverty leads to an increase in crimes. It creates neo-refugees with many social problems,” the letter read.

    Citing an example of the problems faced by the erosion-affected people, Chowdhury said a colony of such people from Malda has come up in Mumbai’s Byculla area, where they are branded as Bangladeshi infiltrators as they have also lost their documents to the erosion.

    “During the UPA regime, a large fund was sanctioned for the above issue. I request you to kindly release adequate funds to check the land erosion and protect the life and livelihood of the affected people,” he said.

    Chowdhury represents Berhampore Lok Sabha constituency in Murshidabad district.

    Ganga flows through Malda before entering Murshidabad, where it splits into Bhagirathi that flows south through West Bengal and Padma which flows east into Bangladesh.