Calcutta HC Calls For Centre-State Cooperation To Prevent Post-Poll Violence In Bengal

New Delhi: The Calcutta High Court on Thursday called for greater Centre-state cooperation in West Bengal to prevent events of post-poll violence this time.

A vacation division bench of Justices Kausik Chanda and Apurba Sinha Ray made the observation while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) on the issue.

The PIL, filed by an organisation named 'Rashtravadi Ainjivi', alleged incidents of post-poll violence have started surfacing since the evening of June 4 after the trend of Lok Sabha elections in the state became clear. The petitioner also alleged that in most cases, the state police were refusing to accept complaints from the victims of post-poll violence.

After a detailed hearing in the matter, the vacation bench observed that the Union and state governments have equal responsibility in preventing such events of post-poll violence and both should work in close coordination to prevent such events.

It also observed that the central armed police forces (CAPF) would have the authority to act if the state police were unable to bring the situation under control in such cases of post-poll violence.

The vacation bench also directed the state Director General of Police (DGP) to make arrangements so that the victims could register their complaints through email at his office. As per the court directive, the DGP's office should forward those complaints to the police station concerned and also ensure that they act on them.

The office of the DGP was also directed to submit an affidavit on the number of FIRs registered on the basis of the complaints on post-poll violence and also publish these figures on the website of the state police.