The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought response from the West Bengal government on a plea seeking relief for citizens who have been “internally displaced” due to the post-poll violence in the state, reported Bar and Bench.
A two-judge bench of Justices Vineet Saran and BR Gavai also impleaded National Human Rights Commission and National Commission for Women as parties to the case.
The petition has claimed that the post-poll violence following the Assembly elections results on May 2 led to an exodus of people and their internal displacement. It has sought an inquiry by a Special Investigation Team into the alleged violence in West Bengal.
“The exodus of the people in West Bengal due to state-sponsored violence has posed serious humanitarian issues related to their survival, where they are forced to live in deplorable conditions, in violation of their fundamental rights enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution of India,” the plea contended.
West Bengal had witnessed a spell of incidents of violence following the election results. The Bharatiya Janata Party and the ruling Trinamool Congress blamed each other for the deaths of multiple party workers. Various news reports put the toll between 11 and 14, but the police did not confirm the numbers.
The petition claimed that 18 political activists died, sexual violence was committed against women as well as acts of loot, arson and destruction happened, owing to the indifference of the state government.
It has sought the deployment of central forces to restore law and order in the state and setting up of a fast-track court.
File counter-affidavit on BJP activists’ deaths plea, says SC
In a related hearing, the Supreme Court directed the state government to file a counter-affidavit on the plea for an inquiry into the killings of two Bharatiya Janata Party activists allegedly at the instance of Trinamool Congress leaders during the violence, reported Live Law.
Senior Advocate Sidharth Luthra, representing the West Bengal government, told the court that the police have registered first information reports in both the alleged killings and six persons have been arrested so far.
Luthra also told the bench that the Calcutta High Court was considering the matter of post-poll violence. He said that the petitioners have not disclosed this information to the court. The senior advocate said the Calcutta High Court was scheduled to issue directions in the matter but the hearing was adjourned after Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal was not available.
The Supreme Court then asked Luthra to file the counter-affidavit. It adjourned the matter two weeks and tagged it to the petition seeking compensation for the victims of the post-poll violence.
Last week, the court had issued a notice to the West Bengal government on the petition filed by an individual Biswajit Sarkar. The petitioner sought an investigation into the death of his brother Avijit Sarkar and another BJP member, who were allegedly killed by Trinamool Congress members during post-poll violence in West Bengal.
The wife of the other deceased BJP member, Haran Adhikari, is the second petitioner in the case.
Senior Advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, appearing for the petitioners, told the court that the West Bengal Police took no action after the “brutal murders” and that attempts were made to “subvert the investigation”.
Incidents of fake news also emerged as several BJP leaders, including MP Swapan Dasgupta tweeted about “rape and molestation” of women and claimed that “more than a thousand Hindu families” were under attack in Nanoor in Birbhum district. In another incident, BJP’s state unit deleted a video from its official Facebook page after a journalist pointed out that he had been falsely identified as someone who was killed in post-poll violence in the state.
The Trinamool Congress had emerged victorious after the country’s longest-ever Assembly elections, held in eight phases, amid the massive rise in Covid-19 infections in the country. The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress won 213 seats – way beyond the majority mark of 148. The Bharatiya Janata Party managed to secure only 77 constituencies.
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