Kolkata : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee hurled a barrage of allegations against the current judiciary like never before and she dubbed the court as a 'BJP court'. Addressing a public meeting in Malda's Chakulia on Monday, Mamata Banerjee alleged that the central government is appointing BJP loyalists in the seats of judges, so that these judges are doing what the BJP office asks them to do.
The Chief Minister also questioned whether BJP knew about the verdict of SSC recruitment corruption case in advance. Earlier in the day, the Calcutta High Court scrapped the 2016 test through which 26,000 teachers were recruited. CM Mamata slammed this verdict as illegal. While talking about that in Chakuliya's campaign meeting, she expressed her strong dissatisfaction with the judiciary.
"This has happened... not in a temple, not in a mosque, but in a BJP courtroom. BJP sits there and conducts political trials. If BJP files PIL, the bell will ring, but if anyone else files PIL, he will be jailed. This has become the situation here," Mamata didn't hesitate to come down heavily on the court.
Without blaming the judges by name, the chief minister levelled allegations against the central government. "It is not the fault of the judges, it is the fault of the central government. They have put BJP people here, so that they draft what they are told by the BJP party office," she said.
While opposing the SSC-related verdict, the Chief Minister brought up the topic of former Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay again without naming him. "Someone is contesting polls on a BJP ticket. It was his order. The Supreme Court set it aside. It said, let's talk about a new division bench. Hey, who will the division bench be made with? I'm not telling the judges, but it's my right to criticise the verdict."
It may be recalled that the Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari had claimed to detonate a bomb this week. Referring to this indirectly, Mamata claimed that today's high court verdict in SSC case is the bomb (that Adhikari talked about).
"He who said, 'bomb will explode'. What is a bomb? Is it a bomb that is snatching 26,000 people's jobs? Understand, the name of pushing people's lives to the brink of death is the bomb. I defy you. What will the court decide on Monday, you (BJP) said on Saturday? How did you know? If you didn't write the judgment yourself! If you didn't make the judgment yourself, where did you know it from?", Mamata asked.
The chief minister said that she is not afraid of any punishment for saying all these things. "How will you punish me? Will you set up a commission against me? I'm ready. Send me to jail? I'm ready. If I have to be punished for talking about people, I'll take it in my stride. But remember, if the family is in danger, I'll stand by their side," she said.
Mamata Banerjee informed that the state government would challenge the high court judgment in the SSC case. She gave a message to laid-off teachers, "Don't despair. We're here. We'll fight as along as we can."
"This order is an illegal order. I am not telling the judge, the order is illegal. I will challenge the verdict in the Supreme Court because 26,000 jobs means one and a half to two lakh people's families. They are being asked to return the money with interest. You have worked for so many years. Is it possible to return all the salary for so many days?" she added.
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