Rajat Roy Kolkata
In a significant judgment the Calcutta High Court today slammed the state government saying the March 14 police firing at Nandigram was totally unconstitutional and unjustifiable. Rejecting the state government's argument challenging the jurisdiction of the high court in appointing the CBI to investigate into the matter, the divisional bench of Chief Justice SS Nijjhar and Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghosh upheld its earlier decision and asked the CBI to conduct full fledged investigation and submit its report to the court within a month.
Delivering a further blow to the CPM-led Left Front government, the high court rejected the compensations announced by the Buddhadeb Bhattacharya government and announced an upgraded package for the dead, injured and rape victims. At least 14 people died and 164 people injured when police fired on the people there. Advocate General Balai Roy has made it clear that the state government will appeal to the Supreme Court against the high court order.
Recently, in the wake of the organised assault by armed CPM goons on villagers at Nandigram, almost eight months after the March 14 massacre at Nandigram, the state government had announced a compensation package for the victims of police firing. According to that announcement, those who had died of police firing on that day and their family were to be paid Rs 1 lakh. The high court rejected this ‘order’ and asked the state government to pay Rs 5 lakh each to the family of the dead, Rs 1 lakh to the injured and Rs 2 lakh to the victims of rape and molestation. And the high court also ordered the state government to pay the compensation immediately.
The much awaited ruling on the March 14 police firing in Nandigram was delivered today in a packed courtroom. It should be mentioned here that on March 14, the Calcutta High Court had issued <suo moto> order asking the CBI to conduct preliminary investigation into the cause of the police firing. During hearings on this matter held earlier, the advocate general argued that the court could not ask the CBI to inquire without taking consent from the
state government.
The division bench in its judgment today rejected the state's argument and cited Article 226 of the Constitution of India in support of its stand. Also, it did not accept the state government's argument so as to defend the police firing, and termed it as unlawful act. Now, the CBI can initiate proceedings against the people who were responsible for the March 14 violence, which includes senior police officers as well.
Also, it should be remembered that while conducting preliminary investigation the CBI had arrested 10 people with sophisticated firearms from Khejuri, a CPM stronghold bordering Nandigram. They were identified as prominent CPM leaders from the neighbouring blocks; they were later released on bail. After today's court ruling, the CBI can start proceedings
against them.
The court ruling has definitely strengthened political and civil opposition to the ruling CPM-led Left Front (LF) government. Significantly, RSP, a LF partner and consistent in its criticism against big brother the CPM, has welcomed the court ruling.
A series of setbacks has cast a pall of gloom in the ruling camp. Already the CPM is reeling under severe criticism from various corners from across the spectrum in West Bengal and India. The Governor of the state and the civil society have already condemned the role of the state government and the CPM in sponsoring and abetting the violent recapture of Nandigram. Now, the high court has dealt a further blow to the ruling CPM.
Indeed, another shock awaits the state government and ruling CPM, when the Calcutta High Court delivers its order on the Singur Land Acquisition Case. For Buddha Babu, indeed, the ‘paid coin’ seems to be coming back yet again.
Comments
The 'Communist' parties in India have set up a notorious profile over the years, which is one of militancy and brow-beating tactics in politics, and of extremely obstructive and destructive and often violent/ murderous defiance, visavis industrial operations and development. The Communist Govt. in West Bengal has ruined the record of leadership oin industrial status of WB, which was the case until around the 'seventies, by supporting rowdyism through its labour unions, and few industrialists or investors dared to look at WB for setting up new enterprises there since they feared that their business would be a nonstarter or else die soon. The administrative efficiency was also battered due to 'communist' interference at all levels and in all ways. Now, when there is a legitimate popular resistance to fertile lands being marked for special economic zone development (Nandigram) or, for the same reason, to a Tata enterprise elsewhere, their decades-old obnoxious policies rooted in a discarded and outworn ideology of worker supremacy in business and government, are paying them in their own coin. The government's response has only aggravated the situation from its own viewpoint. West Bengal deserves a change of ruling party at thee earliest (indeed as some other States of India) where people have been mesmerized by demogoguy and terrorized by government-supported militancy on numerous occasions. The stability of the nation indeed depends on how the people choose to vote, steering clear of the bewildering cacophony of meaningless behaviour of numerous political parties based on hypocritical ideologies such as casteist communalism disguised as secularism, populism of various kinds (free TV promise before elections and distribution at public cost after winning power in TN, is a recent fines example)and other useless ideas that can never uplift India and make it a really strong nation.