Calcutta HC snubs police over 'unsatisfactory' report on Cong leader's arrest

Kolkata, March 27 (IANS) A single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court on Monday expressed anguish over the 'unsatisfactory' report by the Kolkata Police commissioner on the arrest of HC counsel and Congress leader Kaustav Bagchi earlier this month for allegedly making derogatory remarks against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

To recall, while questioning the manner in which Bagchi was arrested during the wee hours of the day, Calcutta High Court's single-judge bench of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha had on March 15 directed police commissioner Vineet Kumar Goyal to seek a report from Burtolla police station, whose cops had arrested Bagchi, and submit the report to the high court within four weeks.

On Monday, the report was submitted to the single-judge bench following which Justice Mantha expressed his anguish over its contents.

Observing that the report is not acceptable, Justice Mantha said the police action has been justified in the report.

"But all should know what had actually happened on that day. From this report, question can be raised whether the police commissioner encouraged his forces to act in an improper manner," Justice Mantha said.

At the same time, he also said that the practice of making derogatory comments against each other is not acceptable.

He asked the state government to file an affidavit on this count by April 12. The next hearing in the matter is scheduled on April 20. Till that time, further police action against Bagchi may continue.

After the bypoll results for the Sagardighi Assembly constituency in Murshidabad district was announced on March 2, in which Left-backed Congress candidate Baryon Biswas trounced Trinamool Congress nominee Debasish Bandopadhyay by nearly 23,000 votes, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had launched a scathing attack against state Congress President and veteran party MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, referring to his daughter's suicide in 2006.

On March 3, Bagchi had held a press conference wherein he referred to a book written by former IAS officer Deepak Kumar Ghosh, which reportedly has some references about the personal life of the Chief Minister.

Bagchi had said that since Banerjee has started making personal attacks by referring to the suicide of Chowdhury's daughter, he would now counter them by circulating soft copies of Ghosh's book through WhatsApp. Thereafter the police raided his residence and arrested him.

The arrest had evoked strong criticism from different corners, including from within the Trinamool Congress.

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