Kolkata, Sep 4, 2024
A single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court, on Wednesday, granted protection against coercive police action to Bhaskar Ghosh, the leader of the Joint Forum of West Bengal government employees.
FIRs were filed against Ghosh for participating at the Nabanna Abhijan (March to state secretariat) which was organised on August 27 in protest against the ghastly rape and murder of a junior doctor at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital.
The Joint Forum, an umbrella body of different state government employees spreading the long movement of dearness allowance at par with that of the central government employees and the arrears accrued on it, on September 2 had approached the single-judge bench of Justice Rajarshi Bhardwaj seeking protection against coercive police action following FIR registered against some of their members for participating at the Nabanna Abhijan.
The forum supported the Nabanna Abhijan convened by a group of students and on August 27 several members of the forum also joined the protest march.
After a detailed hearing in the matter, the single-judge bench, on Wednesday barred the police from taking any coercive action against Ghosh based on the FIR till further orders.
Recently, Calcutta High Court’s other single-judge bench of Justice Amrita Sinha granted bail to one of the conveners of Nabanna Abhijan, Sayan Lahiri. Justice Sinha also barred police from taking any coercive action against Lahiri not only in the case related to the protest march but in any other case registered against him.
Lahiri was released the next day. However, the state government challenged the single-judge bench order in the Supreme Court.
On September 2, the apex court’s division bench of Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Mishra dismissed the state government’s plea and observed that “prima facie” a case of bail was made out in the case of Lahiri.
Last week, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued a notice to Kolkata Police seeking an explanation on the alleged police excesses on the protestors participating at Nabanna Abhijan.(Agency)
