"What has happened in Sandeshkhali is extremely shameful .... '100% responsibility lies with ruling party': High Court raps West Bengal Govt

 '100% responsibility lies with ruling party': High Court raps West Bengal government over Sandeshkhali

"What has happened in Sandeshkhali is extremely shameful. The entire district administration and the ruling dispensation owe moral responsibility for what has happened in Sandeshkhali. 100% responsibility lies with the ruling party if the safety of a citizen is under threat; the government is responsible," the High Court said.

Calcutta High Court on Thursday pulled up the ruling Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal while hearing several pleas filed on the Sandeshkhali violence. 

During the hearing, the court said that it's entirely the ruling party's "responsibility" if a citizen's safety is under threat.

(North 24 Parganas: Women holding posters stage a protest demanding the arrest of local TMC leaders over Sandeshkhali incident allegations.)  

Calling the case "extremely shameful", the court pulled up the ruling Trinamool Congress-led government, saying it is their "100% responsibility" if the "safety of a citizen is under threat".  

Advocate Priyanka Tibrewal, also a BJP leader, petitioner in the suo motu matter in the alleged sexual violence and land grab cases, said she had received several complaints from Sandeshkhali.  

"So many people came. They said nothing happened. I am putting the affidavit on record. I am not mentioning their names or they will be under threat. There was a lady who went to visit her father whose land was grabbed. She was taken in daylight and raped (by people), including (Sheikh) Shahjahan and other workers." 

"This is not just land grabbing but deep issues, including government land officials. The land records were changed and (they were) asked to file a civil suit. How will these people file a civil suit? If they resist, they are tortured and raped. Even police are involved," she told the court.

Former Trinamool Congress leader Sheikh Shahjahan, was arrested by the Bengal Police on February 29 in connection with an attack on an Enforcement Directorate (ED) team in Sandeshkhali on January 5. 

He and his associates have been accused by several women of land grab and sexual assault under coercion, a controversy that has sparked a political row between the BJP and the ruling Trinamool Congress.

During Thursday's hearing, Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court, TS Sivagnanam, said even if one percent of what advocate Tibrewal said is true, it would be shameful, considering Bengal boasts of the statistics report of calling itself the safest state for women.

The Chief Justice also rebuked the lawyer of Sheikh Shahjahan, who called for an investigation into the allegations. "You are appearing for an accused who is under investigation. You first clear the shadow around you, then voice your grievance," Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam said.

He further told the 'expelled' Trinamool leader's lawyer that if he continues to appear for him, then the "reasonable apprehension is that you have been set up by the person who are behind bars".

Furthermore, the lawyer assisting the court in the case said that a report has been filed in which all issues, including land grabbing, have been looked at.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Coochbehar on April 4 slammed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Trinamool over the Sandeshkhali episode. 

He said the entire country saw how the Trinamool threw its weight to save the culprits of the Sandeshkhali incident. 

“But BJP's focus is empowering the women. The culprits of Sandeshkhali will spend their lives in jail,” PM Modi said adding that only the BJP can stop the injustice meted out to the women of Bengal and hence the BJP must be strengthened in West Bengal. 

“What happened to the women of Sandeshkhali was a result of TMC's misrule. BJP has vowed that it will ensure the punishment of the Sandeshkhali culprits,” Modi said addressing an election rally in Coochbehar.

"In 2019 when I came here, I addressed a rally from this same ground. But then Mamata Didi made a platform on the ground leaving a narrow space for me. I said at that time that Didi would see the result of it. 

And you have shown her the result. This time, there is no such roadblock and so I want to thank Mamata Banerjee and the government," Modi said.

Congress Kharge earlier did not condemn Sandeshkhai episode 

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