National Human Rights Commission chairperson and retired Supreme Court judge Arun Mishra on Monday constituted a seven member committee to probe the complaints of the victims of West Bengal post poll violence.
The panel is headed by NHRC member Rajiv Jain. Other members of the committee include Atif Rasheed, Vice Chairperson, National Commission for Minorities; Rajulben L Desai, Member, National Commission for Women; Santosh Mehra, Director General (Investigation), NHRC; Pradip Kumar Panja, Registrar, West Bengal State Human Rights Commission; Raju Mukherjee, Member Secretary, West Bengal State Legal Services Authority; and Manzil Saini, DIG (Investigation), NHRC.
Calcutta High Court Refused to Recall June 18 Directions to NHRC To Examine WB Post Poll Violence
Calcutta High Court on Monday dismissed a petition filed by Mamata Banerjee led West Bengal government to recall its June 18 order directing the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to constitute a committee to examine the complaints of displaced people during post-poll violence.
“There were allegations that Police is not taking action and that is why we had to involve NHRC. You have not put on record a single complaint received by you. Your conduct in this case does not inspire confidence of this Court,” the bench noted.
Advocate General Kishore Dutta appearing for the State government submitted that it had not served the state SLSA report which was significant for the June 18 order. He further claimed that he was unable to argue the matter effectively in the absence of that SLSA report.
Pulling the state government over not taking concrete steps, the bench questioned that on one hand NHRC has received over 500 complaints while on other hand, State claims that State Human Rights Commission has not received any complaint.
“How is it possible? This is lethargy on part of State,” noted the bench.
The five-judge HC bench on Friday directed NHRC to constitute a committee to examine the complaints of displaced people and visit the violence hit areas. The bench had asked it to submit the report by June 30.
On May 31, Calcutta High Court constituted a three-member committee including National Human Rights Commission, State Human Rights Commission, and West Bengal State Legal Services Authority for the rehabilitation of post-poll-violence victims.
“The people have a right to go back to their homes and live peacefully. It is the duty of the state to ensure that law and order is maintained,” ordered the five-judge bench of Calcutta High Court
The five-judge bench of Calcutta High Court include
- Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal
- Justice Indra Prasanna Mukherjee
- Justice Soumen Sen
- Justice Harish Tandon
- Justice Subrata Talukder
“I Have Some Difficulty in Hearing This Matter”: Justice Indira Banerjee
Justice Indira Banerjee who is the only woman judge in the Supreme Court at present, recused to hear a matter related to post poll violence. The petition had sought a CBI/SIT probe into the death of two BJP workers, Avijit Sarkar and Haran Adhikari.
As Justice Indira Banerjee hails to West Bengal, she recused to hear the matter.
West Bengal Post Poll Violence
West Bengal State Legal Services Authority has tabulated the complaints into six categories.
- property vandalised/ looted/ damaged by miscreants,
- threat by miscreants as a result of which the applicant(s) are out of his/their house and requires to be reinstated,
- assault/sexual assault by miscreants,
- grabbing/encroaching of property by miscreants,
- shop/business forcefully closed by miscreants and
- demand of ransom by miscreants.
SLSA report
SLSA report shows affidavits of 3,243 people being affected during WB post-poll violence till June 10. The episodes of violence include loot, gangrapes, murder, house burning, and much more. Thousands of residents have claimed to be migrated to adjoining states including Assam, Jharkhand, and Odisha. 37 BJP members have allegedly been killed during the violence.
