Calcutta HC cracks the whip on comrades

The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday issued criminal contempt notice against three Communist Party of India-Marxist leaders, including Left Front chairman Biman Bose for allegedly making unsavoury comments against its order terming the police firing on March 14 at Nandigram unconstitutional and unjustified.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice S S Nijjar and Justice P C Ghosh took cognizance of two applications by the Bar Library Club and the Calcutta High Court Bar Association seeking contempt proceedings for the alleged comments and directed that contempt notice be issued against Binoy Konar and Shyamal Chakraborty, both central committee members of CPI-M, apart from Bose.

The matter will be heard by the bench in January next year, the court directed.

The three leaders had at a public meeting on November 17 allegedly derided the court order of the previous day that had also directed the West Bengal government to pay Rs five lakh as compensation to each of the families of the 14 who died in the police action on March 14.

Bose had reportedly termed the court order as 'interference,' apart from the other two leaders allegedly making unsavoury comments on the judiciary. The same division bench had on November 16, while rejecting the state government's arguments justifying the firing, directed that the CBI inquiry into it will continue and asked the agency to submit its report within a month.

It had also directed that a compensation of Rs two lakh should be given to those raped and Rs one lakh to the injured.