‘Even if 1% is true…’: Calcutta HC pulls up West Bengal govt on Sandeshkhali violence.

A division bench of Chief Justice Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya was hearing the Public Interest Litigations (PILs). The Calcutta High Court on Thursday, while hearing the pleas that sought a probe into sexual harassment and alleged land grabbing, extortion and sexual crimes against local women by Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Sheikh Shahjahan, expressed its discontent over the issue before the bench. Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam said as per LiveLaw, “The entire district administration and ruling dispensation must owe a moral responsibility. Even if [the affidavit] 1% is true it is absolutely shameful. And West Bengal says it is safest for women? If one affidavit is proved to be right all of this falls.” A division bench of Chief Justice Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya was hearing the Public Interest Litigations (PILs). The bench was hearing arguments seeking an independent probe into the harassment of women by Shahjahan and his men in West Bengal’s Sandeshkhali. The Calcutta HC reserved its verdict. Advocate Priyanka Tibrewal, who filed a PIL, said that the court should be transferred to a court-monitored commission, LiveLaw reported. She said she had visited the affected area and spoke to women who were afraid of the police and repercussions but wanted to raise their voices against Shahjahan.