KOLKATA: The West Bengal government received another blow in the Calcutta High Court as a division bench on Tuesday granted bail to former CPI(M) MLA of Sandeshkhali Nirpada Sardar expressing surprise that the FIR against the legislator was lodged before police received the complaint. The court, while granting bail, described the police action as shocking and asked who would compensate a citizen who has been arrested for so long.
Sardar was arrested on charges of instigating unrest in TMC’s stronghold Sandeshkhali.
In another development, BJP-led Chhattisgarh's Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai on Tuesday wrote a letter to West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee saying “putting tribals’ lives in danger for appeasement and vote bank politics is beyond tolerance”.
The former CPI(M) legislator, who served as Sandeshkhali MLA from 2011 to 2016, was arrested on February 11 from his rented house in south Kolkata on the basis of a complaint by local TMC leader Sibaprasad Hazra’s close friend Bhanu Mondal on February 10. The division bench expressed surprise when it was found that the FIR mentioning Sardar’s name was lodged on February 9, before the police received the complaint.
Hazra, a close associate of fugitive TMC strongman Shahjahan Sheikh, is presently behind bars facing the charges of gangrape and attempt to murder in Sandeshkhali. Shahjahan is at large since the attack on the ED officers who went to raid his house on January 5.
Describing the date discrepancy as “shocking”, the bench comprising Justice Debangshu Basak and Justice Md. Shabbar Rashidi said, “It is shocking that a citizen of India is taken into custody on the basis of such a police complaint. Who will compensate a citizen who has been arrested for so long. We grant interim bail to the petitioner.”
When asked about the botched-up FIR, the public prosecutor failed to come up with any explanation.
The court also asked the superintendent of police, Basirhat police district, to submit a report.
On Monday, a day after TMC’s second-in-command Abhishek Banerjee said the state police’s hands were tied as the judiciary was responsible for giving protection for Shahjahan, the high court clarified that it has not passed any order to stay or prevent the arrest of Shahjahan who is facing allegations of sexual assault on women and forcible land grabbing.
In his letter, the Chhattisgarh CM highlighted atrocities on the tribals in the North 24 Parganas island. He requested Mamata to rise above political considerations and take decisions for the interest of humanity.
“Injustice against mothers and sisters that have come to light in Sandeshkhali area of your state is heart-wrenching. Incidents like brutal rape of more than 50 women belonging to tribal communities, grabbing the land from thousands of tribals and even snatching away MGNREGA wages from them, have tarnished humanity,” Sai’s letter to Mamata reads.
He also said putting tribals’ lives in danger in the state and tarnishing their honour merely for appeasement and vote bank politics is beyond tolerance.
“Being the chief minister of West Bengal, it is expected that you will intervene strongly and give instructions for immediate action. I hope you will rise above political considerations and take decisions in this matter,” the letter said.
Sai termed the reports given by the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) as “gruesome” and “horrifying” and asked Mamata to arrest Shahjahan and other culprits.
Meanwhile, addressing an event in Kolkata, Union Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman hit out at the Bengal government, saying, “The TMC raised a hue and cry about Manipur, not what is happening in Sandeshkhali. The party is saying arrests would be made within seven days, where is Shahjahan?”
