Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Monday said that notice will be served to NHRC and State Legal Services Authority (SLSA) in connection with a prayer for forming a committee to ensure that people displaced in post-poll violence in West Bengal return to homes and pursue work. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice R Bharadwaj directed that the prayer will be taken up on April 19 during the hearing of PILs on post-poll violence that was reported following the 2021 assembly elections.
The petitioner prayed that the court forms a two-member committee comprising representatives of the NHRC (National Human Rights Commission) and the SHRC (State Human Rights Commission) for the purpose. Petitioner Priyanka Tibrewal submitted before the bench that since there was no chairman or secretary in SHRC at present, the secretary of SLSA is served notice. A five-judge bench presided by the then-acting chief justice Rajesh Bindal had on August 19, 2021, ordered a CBI investigation into all cases of alleged murder and crime against women during post-poll violence in Bengal.
Passing judgment on PILs seeking an independent probe in the reported violence following the declaration of assembly elections, the bench had ordered the constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) comprising three IPS officers of the West Bengal cadre to probe all other cases. The bench had said that both the investigations would be monitored by the high court.
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PTI
