NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the West Bengal government, the National Human Rights Commission and the National Commission for Women to respond to a PIL seeking relief and rehabilitation of lakhs of people allegedly displaced by post-poll violence said to have been orchestrated by TMC supporters against BJP workers.
A bench of Justices Vineet Saran and BR Gavai was persuaded by advocate Pinky Anand to take cognisance of the allegations levelled in the PIL and issue notice to the respondents. NHRC, through advocate Amit Sharma, said it had sent two teams to inquire into the post-poll violence and would file the reports in the SC. Five petitioners, led by Arun Mukherjee, drew the court’s attention to the precarious situation caused by violence unleashed by TMC supporters. They said the state and Centre must set up camps for displaced people.
They also requested the SC to constitute an SIT to probe incidents of political violence and targeted killings in the state. In a PIL by the kin of two of 18 BJP workers allegedly killed by TMC workers during post-poll violence, the West Bengal government said a five-judge bench of Calcutta HC was dealing with the issue. But the bench of justices Saran and Gavai remained firm on dealing with the issue and told state government to file response in two weeks.
View More | Source: Times of India