The State Should Ensure That Victims Of West Bengal Post-Election Violence Can Return To Their Homes: Calcutta HC

DECISION OF THE COURT

• The 5 judge Bench consisted of Justice Harish Tandon, Justice I P Mukerjee, Justice Subrata Talukdar, Justice Soumen Sen headed by Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal.
• The Bench remarked that the West Bengal government was under the obligation to ensure that people displaced during the post-election violence could safely find their way back home.
• The State Government was also told to furnish a complete report of the incident.
• The Court also criticized the State Government for opposing the petition.
• It stated that serious action will be taken against officers who refuse to acknowledge the allegations of the post election violence.

CLAIMS OF THE PETITIONER

• The petitioner, Advocate Priyanka Tibrewal, claimed that at least 200 people had been displaced due to the post election violence.
• They were unable to return home due to fear of backlash.
• The Police were falsely claiming normalcy by showing photographs of houses in violence affected areas.
• However, the male members had not returned to their homes.
• The Petitioner asked for Police protection during transit.

ARGUMENTS OF THE ADVOCATE GENERAL

• The Advocate General, Kishore Dutta, claimed that the allegations were false.
• The AG stated that he would push costs against the Petitioner for the same.
• This was met with sharp criticism from the Bench.
• The Bench directed that if the State opposed the claims, it could direct the National Human Rights Commission to look into the matter.
• The AG informed the Bench that an email address had been created to receive complaints of the incident.

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