Egg on Face :::: "Your Chief Secy, DGP should have faced actions" :::::::: Supreme Court raps Mamata Govt :::: -- EC steps up actions :::: Rs 181 crore cash, liquor, drugs seized as Model Code of Conduct enforcement steps up

West Bengal Assembly polls: Rs 181 crore cash, liquor, drugs seized as MCC enforcement steps up  

As many as 3,11,829 public property defacements and 19,901 private property defacements have been removed, with 3,58,986 cases registered across districts.

Over 1,800 Flying Squad Teams (FSTs) and more than 2,200 Static Surveillance Teams (SSTs) have been deployed to respond to complaints and check illegal transportation of cash and other materials, officials said.

On the law and order front, Kolkata Police, along with central forces, intervened in incidents at Baranagar and Kalighat to prevent escalation of tensions and maintain public peace. 

Police have also made arrests in cases of criminal intimidation and voter threat, while unlicensed arms and explosives have been seized as part of intensified surveillance.

Representational image (The Telegraph) 

Law and order agencies and other authorities have seized cash, liquor, drugs, and freebies worth over Rs 181 crore as enforcement of the model code of conduct (MCC) intensifies across all 294 constituencies. 

Extensive drives have also targeted unauthorised political advertisements and public and private property defacements. “Strict vigil is being maintained throughout the state to ensure that the model code of conduct is implemented in letter and spirit,” a senior poll panel official said.  

Don’t politicise, you’re duty-bound: Supreme Court raps Bengal over Chingrighata Metro delay

This was a fit case where your chief secretary, director general of police should have been subjected to some action. This shows complete dereliction of your constitutional duty, says CJI Surya Kant  

“We are only pointing out that high court has been very magnanimous. This was a fit case where your chief secretary, director general of police should have been subjected to some action. This shows complete dereliction of your constitutional duty. 

This is just an attempt to politicise an issue where there is no such issue," CJI said. 

The Supreme Court on Monday (March 23) pulled up the Mamata Banerjee government for delaying the completion of the Metro network's orange line, which connects New Garia with the airport.

“This merely exhibits the obstinate attitude of the authority wherein they want to delay and the stall the metro rail project in the city of Kolkata. There was no infirmity in the order passed by the high court,” the bench comprising CJI Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said and also dismissed the state’s special leave petition. 

Completion of work on a mere 366-metre stretch on the Eastern Metropolitan bypass between the Beleghata and Gour Kishore Ghosh (near Chingrighata crossing) stations has remained stalled because the Kolkata Police did not issue the required road-closure permission.  

The implementing authority, the Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) had sought a No-objection Certificate (NOC) for night traffic blocks on the EM bypass stretch around Chingrighata to set up a concrete block among piers 317, 318 and 319 to fill the 366-metre gap.

The RVNL moved the Calcutta High Court because the cops allegedly sat on the NOC. The RVNL had set a February 15 deadline to complete the work. The state moved the apex court challenging the Calcutta High Court order.

  “It is not that you are willing, you are duty bound. 

You told the high court that you have festivals to take care of. Festival is more important than construction of a transport artery. We do not expect democratically elected government to knock our door and ask for this to be ignored,” said Justice Bagchi. 

“This was a project before the model code of conduct came into effect. We will not allow the state to use this as a bogey to stall development again.”

The state’s appeal to withdraw the petition was rejected and the bench dismissed the case.

The orange line now runs between New Garia and Beleghata. In the next phase Beleghata will be connected to Sector-V via Chingrighata.

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Patient dies after being forced to walk to toilet at RG Kar, second death in hospital this week

The family alleged that although the trauma care facility had three toilets — one for patients and two for staff — the patient toilet was locked for renovation, leaving no accessible restroom for the patient

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