Do not exhaust yourself filing PILs: CJ tells Suvendu
Times of India | 7 November 2024
12 Kolkata: The leader of opposition in assembly should not exhaust himself filing public interest litigations, Calcutta high court chief justice T S Sivagnanam observed on Wednesday while hearing a PIL filed by BJP's Suvendu Adhikari.
"When I was transferred to this state three years ago, I found it surprising to see the leader of opposition filing a PIL. In our state, parties do file PILs on a common cause, but the legal cell does it. The LOP, who is the first writ petitioner in the case, should not exhaust himself. He holds a very responsible position," Sivagnanam, who hails from Tamil Nadu, said.
Adhikari's PIL pertained to an alleged attack by a particular community on Hindus and Sikhs in the Rajabazar-Narkeldanga area during Kali Puja and the day after.
Counsel for the petitioners, Billwadal Bhattacharya, cited an email sent by a woman to Adhikari claiming stones and bombs were thrown at residences of people from the two communities while a local Krishna temple and a gurdwara were attacked and statues of Sahid Bhagat Singh, Sukdeb and Rajguru installed in the area desecrated.
The CJ wondered why such an incident was not reported in the media. "An attack on a religious place is not an attack on a particular community but on the public as a whole. But no such report came out in newspapers," he said and turned down the plea for an investigation by central agencies saying, "Their hands are full."
Advocate general Kishore Datta denied all the allegations and submitted photographs in support of his claims. He described the incident as a clash between two individuals that snowballed into mob violence much later. He denied any attack on a temple and gurdwara or that bombs were thrown at homes of Hindus and Sikhs and submitted that statues of the martyrs were intact.
"Incidents are being shaped and brought to court," the AG submitted. "These petitions are essays bereft of any particulars. I don't say that politicians can't file PILs. But politicians who are after the ruling dispensation, day in and day out file such petitions to get political mileage," he said.
According to the AG, stationery shop owner Md Irfan had gone to another shop, Uma Bhandar, to collect some articles and was directed to the store's godown. The godown was next to the residence of one Surender Pal Singh, alias Gogi, who came out of his residence with his dog and attacked Irfan. Irfan was bitten by the dog, following which Gogi left home only to return with firearms when police reached the spot. He opened fire on the cops and one officer sustained bullet injury. The AG submitted that 23 people had been arrested based on six FIRs lodged with the police. "Gogi is on the run. Police caught him but his men overpowered the police and snatched him away," he AG said.
The CJ directed the state to submit a report on the incident on Nov 18 and fixed the next hearing on Nov 21.