The Calcutta High Court has directed the police to strictly maintain law and order and ensure the safe return of persons allegedly displaced due to post-poll violence in West Bengal. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Partha Sarathi Sen passed the direction while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by advocate Sirsanya Bandopadhyay alleging large-scale violence, attacks on properties and targeted intimidation after elections.
Senior Advocate Kalyan Bandopadhyay, appearing for the petitioner along with former CM advocate Mamata Bandopadhyay and Advocate Chandrima Bhattacharya, submitted that several persons were allegedly subjected to violence because of their “political, reserved community, gender or religious background,” and some individuals had even lost their lives. The petitioner further urged the Court to direct preservation of CCTV footage and video recordings and sought tagging of the matter with an earlier PIL concerning post-poll violence already pending before a five-judge bench.
The petitioner also informed the Court that a supplementary affidavit would be filed raising issues relating to alleged “demolition” and “bulldozer action.”
Opposing the plea, respondents questioned the maintainability of the PIL, arguing that the petition lacked necessary averments and supporting complaints or FIRs. Highlighting that the averments in the petitioners are ambiguous and bald, the State submitted that it would take strict action if any violation of the law had occurred. Recording the State’s stand, the High Court observed that
“It shall be lawful for the police authorities to strictly maintain law and order at the ground level. The police shall also ensure that if any citizen, irrespective of his/her party affiliation, is illegally thrown out of his shop/house/property etc. due to post-poll violence, he/she shall be given a safe return to his shop/house/property etc.
The Court granted time to the respondents to file affidavits within 3 weeks and kept open the question of maintainability of the PIL. It also said that the issue of referring the matter to the existing five-judge bench would be considered after completion of pleadings.
Appearances
For the Petitioner- Mr. Kalyan Bandopadhyay, Sr. Adv. Smt. Mamata Bandopadhyay, Adv. Smt. Chandrima Bhattacharya, Adv. Ms. Pramiti Bandopadhyay, Adv. Mr. Arka Kumar Nag, Adv. Mr. Tirthankar Dey, Adv. Mrs. Deboleena Ghosh, Adv. Mr. Rahul Kumar Singh, Adv. Mr. Ratikanta Pal, Adv. Mrs. Shrobona Sengupta, Adv. Mr. Danish Farooqui, Adv. Mrs. Sneha Sarkar, Adv. Mr. Kaushik Bandyapadhyay, Adv. Mr. Anit Das, Adv. Mr. ArijitGanguly, Adv. Mr. Ashish Dutta, Adv. Mr. Samirul Sardar, Adv.
For the ECI- Ms. Anamika Pandey, Adv.
For the State- Mr. Dhiraj Kumar Trivedi, Sr. Adv. Mr. KallolMondal, Sr. Adv. Mr. Amajit De, Adv. Mr. BrajeshJha, Adv. Mr. AtanuBasu, Adv. Mr. Srijit Chakraborty Mr. Sunit Mishra Mr. Amitava Roy Mr. Saibal Acharya Mr. Swapan Kumar Pal Ms. Debapriya Chatterjee Mr. D. Ghosh
For Union of India– Mr. Asok Kumar Chakraborti, Ld. ASG. Ms. Rashmi Bothra, Adv. Mr. Arijit Majumdar, Adv. Ms. Shreyashi Sarkar, Adv.
