The Hon’ble Calcutta High Court, in an Order dated June 18, has directed the Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to constitute a committee to look into the complaints of political violence in West Bengal. The Hon’ble Bench of five Judges constituted by Hon’ble Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justices I. P. Mukerji, Harish Tandon, Soumen Sen, Subrata Talukdar, has directed that the Committee “Shall verify all the instances of violence thoroughly by visiting the affected areas if necessary and to submit a detailed report about the present situation. ”
The Hon’ble Court further ordered that the state shall provide all sorts of support to the committee during its visit in any place. And also said that the state shall ensure there is no obstruction in the process and it would attract the provisions of the Contempt of the Hon’ble Courts Act if any obstructions are found in the process.
The Hon’ble Court while condemning the State’s conduct for not responding and denying the allegations of political violence, had pointed out the report submitted by the West Bengal State Legal Services Authority (BSLSA) where it was mentioned that a total of 3,243 persons were suffered as of June 10, 2021, on account of the Post-Poll Violence in the State.
A member and representative from the State Human Rights Commission(SHRC) along with a member of WBSLSA would also join the NHRC Committee to probe the allegations of violence, the Hon’ble Court observed. The Committee was also asked to suggest steps to be taken to ensure peace and to identify persons and officials involved in the violence before the Hon’ble Court.
The matter is posted for the next hearing on June 30.
