Sandeshkhali Case: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of inciting unrest in Sandeshkhali, to which the BJP hit back and accused the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the state government of being complicit in crimes against women.
Sandeshkhali Violence Row: The Supreme Court on Monday on the notice issued by the Privilege Committee of the Lok Sabha Secretariat against the Chief Secretary of West Bengal, DGP and others on the complaint of ‘misconduct’ of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Sukant Majumdar. Stopped. Last week, BJP workers clashed with police personnel after stopping them from leaving violence-hit Sandeshkhali in West Bengal, in which Majumdar was injured.
Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice J.B. Taking cognizance of the arguments of senior lawyers Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for the West Bengal authorities, the bench of Justice Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Mishra stayed the notice issued for their (officers’) appearance at 10.30 am on Monday.
The lawyer appearing for the Lok Sabha Secretariat opposed the decision of the apex court to stay the stay, saying that this is the first meeting of the Privileges Committee. The lawyer said, “No charges are being leveled against him.” This is a regular process. Once an MP sends a notice and the Speaker feels that there is something worthy of looking into the matter, then the notice is issued.
West Bengal Chief Secretary Bhagwati Prasad Gopalika and Director General of Police (DGP) Rajeev Kumar were issued notices by the Lok Sabha Secretariat to appear before them on Monday. The bench issued notice to the Lok Sabha Secretariat and others and sought their reply within four weeks. Meanwhile, the proceedings of the committee of the lower house were put on hold.
MP Sukanta Majumdar and others were stopped from entering Sandeshkhali last week. There is tension in Sandeshkhali area as a large number of women have accused senior Trinamool Congress leader Shahjahan Shaikh and his supporters of forcefully grabbing land and sexual harassment.
Women Commission will visit today
A delegation led by National Commission for Women (NCW) Chairperson Rekha Sharma will visit violence-hit Sandeshkhali in West Bengal on Monday. Last week, two members of the NCW had visited the affected area and submitted a report exposing the ‘negligence and collusion’ of the Bengal government and law enforcement officials. Rekha said, “We want to talk to the victims. After this we will meet the Governor of West Bengal tomorrow and then the President in New Delhi. If even one incident has happened, it is extremely shameful.”
He alleged that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government was not allowing the state administration to cooperate with central agencies. After a week-long protest in Sandeshkhali of North 24 Parganas, the situation is gradually returning to normal and the police is keeping a tight vigil in the area. Villagers in Sandeshkhali had been protesting since last week, accusing TMC leaders of atrocities and sexual harassment of women.
