Nandigram: HC directive to Bengal Govt

Kolkata, Jan 11: Calcutta High Court today directed the West Bengal government to file an affidavit in two months stating the steps it had taken to restore law and order in Nandigram where 14 people died in police firing last March.

A two-judge bench, comprising Chief Justice S S Nijjar and Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghosh, also held that the state government should take all necessary steps to protect the villgers in Nandigram who faced a lot of trouble last year. The court also directed three CPI(M) leaders--Binoy Konar, Shyamal Chakraborty and Biman Bose--to reply to the contempt notice in two weeks which was sent to them for making derogatory remarks on a high court order regarding Nandigram.

Advocate General Balai Roy pleaded before the bench that the state government was leaving no stone unturned to bring back peace and harmony in the village which was destroyed by the year-long violence over anti-sez protest.

Mr Roy said the state administration was working with the CRPF to infuse a sense of confidence among the villagers.

The Nandigram controversy came up before the high court after the Calcutta High Bar Association moved a public interest litigation seeking a CBI probe into the March 14 police firing which killed 14 villgers.

The chief justice bench of the high court also initiated a suo moto case a day after the incident.

UNI