Calcutta High Court Weekly Roundup: January 17 To January 23, 2022

Important Judgments/Orders of the Week 1. Calcutta High Court Seeks State Gov's Response In Plea Seeking Establishment Of Special Courts Under NDPS Act In Compliance With SC DirectionsCase Title: Ahamadur Rahaman v. State of West Bengal and OrsThe Calcutta High Court sought response from the State government in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition seeking the establishment of Special Courts which would deal exclusively with offences under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS Act) pursuant to the directions issued by Supreme Court in the case of Thana Singh v. Central Bureau of Narcotics. A Bench comprising Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj was apprised by the counsel appearing for the High Court administration that despite the directions issued by the Supreme Court vide order dated January 23, 2013, till date no effort has been made by the State government to establish such Special Courts for exclusively trying offences under the NDPS Act. 2. 'Bona Fide Mistake': Calcutta High Court Refuses To Initiate Suo Moto Proceedings Against Advocate General For Allegedly 'Misleading' CourtCase Title: Mousumi Roy v. The West Bengal State Election Commission & Ors and other connected mattersThe Calcutta High Court recently declined a plea to initiate suo moto proceedings against Advocate General S.N Mookherjee for purportedly 'misleading the Court' by making an incorrect averment that a Bill passed in the West Bengal assembly to bifurcate Howrah Municipal Corporation into Howrah Municipal Corporation and Bally Municipality had received the assent of the Governor of West Bengal. A Bench comprising Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Kesang Doma Bhutia observed, "Having regard to the fact that a bona fide mistake of making incorrect statement was made by the learned Advocate General, we are not inclined to initiate the suo moto proceedings against the Advocate General or any other authority." The Court was adjudicating upon a batch of petitions questioning as to why the Howrah Municipal Corporation has been excluded from the election schedule notified on December 28, 2021. 3. CISF Firing In Sitalkuchi- 'Petitioners Reside 600 Km Away From Place Of Incident': Centre Challenges Maintainability Of Petitions Before Calcutta High CourtCase Title: Aminuddin Khan v. Union of India and other connected mattersThe Calcutta High Court sought response from the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) in a batch of petitions pertaining to the incident of alleged firing by CISF personnel on April 10, 2021, at Sitalkuchi in Cooch Behar district during the West Bengal Assembly polls which claimed the lives of four persons. The petitions alleged that the incident was a result of police firing in the course of electioneering. As a result, an independent probe into the matter had been sought. Consequently, the investigation had been transferred to West Bengal's Criminal Investigation Department (CID). On the previous date of hearing, a Bench comprising Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj had taken on record the interim status report filed by West Bengal's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on the ongoing investigation. "Learned Additional Solicitor General has also raised a preliminary ground about maintainability of the petition by submitting that the petitioners are residing about 600 kilometers away from the place of incident and they have sworn in their affidavit on the basis of their personal knowledge which is incorrect. He is permitted to raise objection about maintainability in the affidavit-in-opposition, which may be filed before the next date of hearing", the Court recorded in its order. '4. Payments Made To Deceased Persons': Calcutta HC Directs Purba Medinipur District Magistrate To Conduct Enquiry Within 3 Months Into Alleged Misappropriation Of MGNREGA FundsCase Title: Amit Kumar Das and Ors v. State of West Bengal Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Cal) 5.The Calcutta High Court directed the District Magistrate, Purba Medinipur to conduct an enquiry into the alleged defalcation of funds allocated under the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana and also the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme. A Bench comprising Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj was adjudicating upon a plea alleging misappropriation of funds allocated under the aforementioned schemes. Furthermore, the Bench was apprised that the funds had not only been misappropriated but that payments have been shown to be made to deceased persons and those who are in custody. "Hence, we dispose of the present petition by directing the respondent no.2/District Magistrate, Purba Medinipur to duly consider the petitioners' representation in accordance with law and conduct enquiry after giving opportunity of hearing to all the concerned parties and take an appropriate decision in accordance with law as expeditiously as...

Calcutta High Court Weekly Roundup: January 17 To January 23, 2022

Aaratrika Bhaumik

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