Amid ruckus created by the MLAs of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is the Opposition in West Bengal, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday, 2 July, was compelled to cut his inaugural address to the new Assembly short.
The ruckus created by the BJP was over the reported post-poll violence in West Bengal.
MORE DETAILS
News agency PTI cited Assembly sources as claiming that on being unable to speak, Dhankhar tabled his speech in the House and left. The governor was reportedly escorted by Speaker Biman Banerjee and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as he left the Assembly premises.
Later during the day, Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari told the press that the BJP legislators were forced to protest as there was no mention of post-poll violence in the speech copy circulated among the MLAs.
'STATE IS IN DENIAL': HC ORDERS POLICE TO REGISTER ALL CASES
Saying that "the state is in denial mode," a special five-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court headed by Justice Rajesh Bindal on Friday, added that the administration had been caught "on the wrong foot".
Meanwhile, according to ANI, the high court ordered the West Bengal police to register all cases of post-poll violence in the state. The state government, on its part, was asked to ensure medical treatment of all victims, as well as ration for the affected, including those without ration cards.
According to ANI, the court also gave the following directions:
Second autopsy of BJP worker Abhijeet Sarkar at Command Hospital in Kolkata.
West Bengal chief secretary to preserve all documents pertaining to the matter of post-poll violence.
Further, a show cause notice was issued to DCP Jadavpur, Rashid Munir Khan IPS, asking him to explain why contempt of court proceedings should not be initiated against him after the NHRC team was attacked in Jadavpur.
The court has also extended the NHRC probe till 13 July, when the next hearing in the matter is scheduled for. Meanwhile, the West Bengal government claimed that reports have been exaggerated.
Welcoming the ruling, Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari demanded the investigation to be transferred to an "independent" agency.
"(Investigation) charge should be given to (an) independent agency. FIR must be filed outside Bengal and the probe should continue. Things will be clear then. The interim report proves the affidavit (post-poll violence) filed by the Bengal chief minister is false," ANI reported.
BACKGROUND
Multiple instances of violence, loot, and plunder have been reported across West Bengal since 2 May, after the results for the Legislative Assembly elections were declared and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) came back to power with a massive majority.
(With inputs from PTI and ANI.)
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