Court slams Bengal govt for Nandigram killings

source:-ibn
New Delhi: The Calcutta High Court hearing a PIL filed on the March 14 Nandigram killings on Friday rejected all arguments made by the West Bengal government.

A division bench of the Calcutta High Court, comprising Chief Justic S S Nijjar and Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghosh, calling the police firing unconstitutional and avoidable, ordered the state government to pay a compensation of no less than Rs 10 lakh to the next of kin of those killed.
The bench also ordered Rs 5 lakh as compensation for those killed in the violence and Rs 2 lakh to those raped and molested.

When asked about the High Court’s order on compensation, Home Secretary P R Roy said, “The government has to abide by the court order on compensation.”

The court also directed CBI to continue the inquiry into the incident and submit a report in a month’s time.

“The division bench also made it unequivocally clear that it had the power to order a CBI inquiry on its own under Article 226 of the Constitution,” Advocate Kalyan Bandopadhay, who had filed a number of Public Interest Litigations on behalf of the victims’ families, told reporters.
The verdict comes a day after the High Court lawyers boycotted proceedings protesting the delay in giving the ruling.

“We have boycotted the High Court because the hearing of the PIL filed by the High Court Bar Association on the March 14 Nandigram killing was over in July this year, but the Chief Justice has been delaying the verdict,” PTI quoted Secretary of HCBA Uttam Majumdar as saying.
Such was the agitation that the lawyers even took out a procession and demanded immediate action on the matter.

High Court sources told the agencies that the verdict was, in fact, to be delivered on Thursday itself but the death of a judge forced the postponement.
Meanwhile, the state government is trying to rally support on its role in Nandigram, but with little success.

While the intellectuals took to the street against the Nandigram violence on Wednesday, a CPI-M rally backed by government justified the violent.
(With PTI inputs)

Calcutta HC asks CBI to continue probe, announces compensation

source:-hindu
Kolkata (PTI): The Calcutta High Court on Friday directed the CBI to continue the inquiry into March 14 Nandigram police firing and violence and submit a report within a month.

A division bench comprising Chief Justic S S Nijjar and Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghosh, while delivering the order, said the police action on the day was not justifiable before the court.

The court also said the state government should give compensation package to those killed, injured, raped and molested at Nandigram on March 14.

It said that a compensation of no less than Rs 10 lakhs be given to the next of kin of those killed, not less than Rs 5 lakhs for those injured, not less than Rs 8 lakhs for those raped and not less than Rs 2 lakhs for those molested.

After the March 14 incident, the chief justice had suo moto initiated a case and asked the CBI to probe the police firing and violence and submit a report within a week.

Since then 10 more PILs were filed and the hearing on them completed in July.

It’s all just “fine” in Nandigram!

source
Rajib Chatterjee
NANDIGRAM, Nov. 15:
Pay money, if you want to stay in your home or face the consequences. This is the dictum of the CPI-M cadres in Nandigram who have now started imposing fine on Bhumi Ucched Protirodh Committee supporters (BUPC) instead of driving them out of their villages. Those who failed to pay were forced to leave their homes.

Sheikh Mosu, a resident of Osmanchowk village, was instructed to pay Rs 10,000 as fine for supporting the BUPC. He was driven out of his villages after Mosu, who works as a daily wage earner, expressed his helplessness. “Now I’m staying in the relief camp. They (CPI-M men) have threatened to kill me if I dared to enter the village. They told me that fine must be paid, otherwise I wouldn’t be allowed to stay home,” said Mosu.

“Mr Prajapati Jana, a resident of Garchakraberia, is in trouble. CPI-M cadres allegedly ordered him to pay Rs 10,000 to stay home or face the consequences. He has been running from pillar to post to collect the money,” said Sheikh Sufiyan, a BUPC member.

The condition of Mr Lakshman Maity, a resident of Subanichowk, is somewhat the same. He was ordered to pay Rs 30,000 to stay home. The offence of Mr Jana and Mr Maity is that they supported the BUPC’s movement, said Mr Sufiyan. Mr Sriram Chandra Mondal, a resident of Sonachura, came to the relief camp today.

“Local CPI-M men drove me out of my house on 11 November as I failed to pay a fine of Rs 30,000. I came to the relief camp after persuasion failed.” Many others like Mr Mondal and Mosu had to leave their homes after they failed to pay up. They are so scared that they didn’t even go to police. “The matter has been brought to the notice of policemen, but they remained silent,” said Mr Sufiyan.

The BUPC leader said Mr Manas Maiti and Mr Bhaja Maity, two residents of Daudpore, who had returned to their homes this morning came back to the relief camp in the evening. “They were beaten up after they expressed their inability to pay Rs 30,000’’, said Mr Sufiyan.