Acting upon the plea, the Calcutta High Court has asked the West Bengal government to file an affidavit-in-opposition within four weeks
Mamata Banerjee influenced witnesses of Birbhum violence by offering govt jobs PIL in Calcutta HC
A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was submitted before the Calcutta High Court in which senior Advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, appearing for the petitioner, told the court on Monday that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had attempted to ‘influence’ witnesses of the Birbhum violence by handing over government jobs and compensation to all the family members of the victims.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj sought the West Bengal government’s response in the plea. The High Court, on 25 March, 2022, had ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the incident of violence in Birbhum district of West Bengal.
The violence in the district was allegedly in retaliation to the murder of local Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Bhadu Sheikh. Eight, including two children died in the Birbhum violence.
For the unversed, two days after the Birbhum violence, the Chief Minister visited the site and had announced Rs 7 lakh compensation, including Rs 2 lakh for house repair. She even handed over government job letters to the family members of the victims.
The lawyer of the petitioner told the bench that CM Mamata Banerjee could not have announced the compensation for the kin of the victims without prior notification of a proper compensation scheme for such a purpose.
The West Bengal government has been asked to file an affidavit-in-opposition within four weeks. The court has listed the matter for further hearing on 26 July, 2022.
On 21 March, violence broke out in Bogtui village of Birbhum district in West Bengal after the alleged murder of Bhadu Sheikh, a panchayat leader of ruling TMC. He died after miscreants allegedly hurled bombs at him.
Within few hours, several houses, including that of the people accused of the TMC leader’s murder, were attacked and set ablaze. Eight, including women and children were charred to death.
The Mamata Banerjee-led government in West Bengal had formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by the additional director general of police (CID), Gyanwant Singh, to probe the incident. However, the investigation was handed over to the CBI on the orders of the Calcutta High Court.
With inputs from LiveLaw
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