In a major intervention in the case linked to the alleged atrocities against villagers in Sandeshkhali, the Supreme Court has paused a Parliament Committee proceedings against top officers of the West Bengal government.
The court has issued notices to the Lok Sabha Secretariat, West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar, and the Union Home Ministry, and sought their responses within four weeks.
The Privileges Committee of the Parliament had ordered the Chief Secretary of West Bengal, the state Director General of Police and the local District Magistrate, Superintendent of Police and the police station in-charge to appear before it on Monday.
The notice was issued after Mr Majumdar, an MP from Balurghat, was injured during a clash with cops when a party delegation visited the remote island.
The case surrounds a Trinamool leader and local strongman Sheikh Sahajan, who and his aides have been accused of systematically exploiting the villagers and multiple counts of sexual assault. Two of his henchmen – Uttam Sardar and Shibu Prasad Hazra – have been arrested, but Shahjahan is still on the run.
Governor CV Ananda Bose, who has visited Sandeshkhali, said that “women in numbers” have told him they were harassed and intimidated, and that he has forwarded their written complaints to the state government.
“Women in numbers met me and told me about their grievance. They said they were molested, harassed and intimidated, their husbands were beaten up,” Mr Bose told NDTV.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has accused the BJP of making a “mountain out of a molehill”. “Instead of peace, they are starting fires,” she has claimed.
The National Commission for Scheduled Castes, which visited Sandeshkhali last week, had recommended President’s Rule in the state amid violence and political tension.
