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Calcutta HC wants Berhampore LS polls deferred in view of Ram Navami violence
The Calcutta high court observed that when people cannot celebrate an occasion in peace for eight hours, they shall not be entitled to elect their representative to Parliament
The Calcutta high court on Tuesday said that it will recommend to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to defer the May 13 Lok Sabha polls at Berhampore in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district in view of the communal violence that took place in the constituency around Ram Navami on April 17.
The division bench of chief justice T S Sivagnanam and justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya made strong observations while hearing a writ petition filed by Vishva Hindu Parishad demanding a probe into the violence by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and a counter petition filed by the Muslim Rashtriya Mancha. Both petitions were filed as public interest litigations (PILs).
“These are all relatable to the ensuing election,” the chief justice said.
Murshidabad has Bengal’s highest Muslim population of 66.28 % and the Berhampore seat has been held by state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury since 1999.
During the hearing, the chief justice said: “We propose that we will make a recommendation to the Election Commission of India that when people cannot celebrate an occasion in peace for eight hours, they shall not be entitled to elect their representative to Parliament. So, the Berhampore parliamentary election shall be deferred. Let us see.”
Justice Sivagnanam said: “In this case we find a peculiar feature. Both the writ petitioners have contended that in the past there has been no violence during Ram Navami festival and this is the first time such an incident has occurred. In one petition there is an allegation that one particular group belonging to a political party instigated the whole problem. The court will consider how the matter is to be probed after the affidavit is filed.”
The court asked the state government, which has transferred the investigation from the district police to the state criminal investigation department (CID), to file an affidavit on the incident before the next hearing on April 26.
When the chief justice asked whether the incident took place in only one village, lawyers representing VHP said violence took place in four police station areas on April 12, 13 and 17.
Prohibitory order under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr.PC) was clamped in these areas between April 13 and April 16, the bench was told.
Counsel for the state, Amitesh Banerjee, told the bench that the violence was triggered by trivial matters that nobody will take into account under normal circumstances.
Reacting to this, justice Sivagnanam said: “As I was told the violence took place from trivial incidents. Even for a firecracker you light a small matchstick but the explosion is big. So, if this is pre-planned, something is going to happen.”
Questioning the psyche of the residents of the affected area, the judge remarked: “Till yesterday I am all quiet and have nothing to do. Tomorrow is Ram Navami. So, suddenly Lord Ram gets into me. Once I exhibit it, someone says no and exhibits something else. And then something else gets into me and a fierce fight follows.”
“This incident will be boiling. Ultimately nobody will care for the injured. Nobody will take responsibility and this will continue till next Ram Navami,” he added.
Lawyers representing the Hindu group and those representing the Muslim organisation claimed that no such violence ever took place in that area in the past.
“I am happy to see both sides on the same page. In that case who precipitated the problem? Was it outsiders?” asked the chief justice.
“Despite the model code of conduct being in force two sets of people are fighting like this. They don’t require any elected representative. Because election is going to cause another problem. A case and a counter case. We have heard criminal cases. Here we have one case for PIL and a counter-case for PIL. And which one is the state government going to support? Which one will the central forces department support? We don’t know. And probably we have to go outside the state to find the truth,” said justice Sivagnanam.
“In Kolkata also, at as many as 33 places I think celebrations and processions were held. That’s what the newspaper reports said. I don’t think any untoward incident happened. If this is happening when the model code of conduct is in force then what is the state police doing?” asked the chief justice.
The lawyers for the state pointed out that central forces were also present in Murshidabad.
“That is true. Then what were the central forces doing? Both couldn’t prevent the clash,” the judge said.
No political party commented on the court’s observations till Tuesday night.
