[ad_1]
India’s home ministry on Tuesday told the Calcutta High Court that it has no reservations about extending the deployment of central forces in West Bengal if the situation requires it in view of allegations of post-election violence in the state.
The court directed the Central and West Bengal governments to assess the circumstances of the allegations of post-election violence raised by the petitioners and disclose all relevant facts in this regard during the next hearing on June 21.
During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General Asok Chakrabarti, representing the Ministry of Home Affairs, told the court that the ministry had no reservations in extending the deployment of central forces in the state if the situation required it.
The lawyer for Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, one of the petitioners in two public interest litigations, said a report by the West Bengal government stated that 107 FIRs had been filed till June 12, of which 18 were not related to post-poll violence, thus admitting that post-poll violence did take place in the state.
The seven-phase Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal ended on June 1 and the results were announced on June 4.
A division bench headed by Justice Harish Tandon directed that the case will be heard again on June 21, until then, the court had directed the central forces to remain in Bengal.
Adhikari and lawyer Priyanka Tibrewal in their respective lawsuits alleged that atrocities were being meted out to people belonging to a political party after the Lok Sabha election process was over.
The division bench, which also included Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya, said that since the petitioners in the public interest litigation had raised serious allegations, the division bench’s primary concern was the safety of citizens.
Attorney General Kishore Dutta, appearing for the state, said the state government was performing its duty of maintaining law and order.
Petitioner lawyer Priyanka Tibrewal claimed that she had a list of 250 people who were evicted from their homes because of their political beliefs and were currently living in a shelter in Kolkata.
She sought to file a supplementary affidavit in the matter before the court at the next sitting.
[ad_2]
Source link
