The seven-member committee set up by National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to probe alleged post-poll violence in West Bengal on Tuesday submitted its report to Calcutta High Court.
Taking note of the report, the Calcutta High Court said it would hear the case on post-poll violence on July 22. The high court also asked the NHRC to share a soft copy of the final report with the state government and petitioners.
Earlier on June 18, the Calcutta High Court had directed the NHRC to constitute a committee to examine all cases of human rights violations in the state during alleged post-poll violence.
The order was passed on a bunch of pleas filed by persons who claimed to be the victims of post-poll violence that allegedly took place in West Bengal following the victory of ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) over the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the assembly election.
The West Bengal government had then moved the high court, seeking a recall of the order directing NHRC to probe the cases. However, the government’s appeal was dismissed by the high court.
The NHRC had constituted a seven-member committee which had visited various parts of West Bengal before submitting an interim report to the court.
On June 29, an NHRC team was reportedly attacked in West Bengal’s Jadavpur while it was investigating alleged incidents of post-poll violence.
On July 2, the high court had also issued a show cause notice for contempt of court against the deputy commissioner of police of South Kolkata for failing to prevent obstruction to the NHRC team that visited Jadavpur.
The BJP and the TMC have sparred over the incidents of political violence that allegedly broke out in West Bengal soon after the results of the assembly polls were announced in May. The BJP alleged its party workers and supporters were targeted by the TMC functionaries for supporting the party.
The TMC dismissed the charge with a counter-claim that the BJP workers attacked its party functionaries. The allegations of post-poll violence include murder, rape and destruction of property among others.
In an earlier order, the high court had asked for a second autopsy of BJP worker Avijit Sarkar, who died in the alleged post-poll violence. BJP worker Avijit Sarkar’s brother later claimed that his body could not be identified.
On Tuesday, the Calcutta High Court ordered a DNA test of BJP worker Avijit Sarkar’s brother Biswajit Sarkar for confirmation. The high court set July 15 as the deadline for submitting the DNA test result.
The DNA samples are to be taken at Command Hospital in Kolkata after which it will be sent to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory for analysis.
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Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/bengal-post-poll-violence-nhrc-report-calcutta-high-court-1827539-2021-07-13?utm_source=fbshare&utm_medium=socialicons&utm_campaign=shareurltracking
