The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday directed a local police station to give protection to Sankari Das, a Bhartiya Janta Party member. Das had alleged she had become a targeted of post-poll violence because of her political affiliation. The order was passed by Justice Biswajit Basu on a petition by Das.
In her petition, Das complained that her house has been destroyed and she is unable to enter her locality. She has also said that she did lodge a complaint with the local police station, but no action has been taken. She asked for a direction to the officer in-charge of Tangra Police Station for protection.
Senior Advocate Amitesh Banerjee, appearing on behalf of the state (respondents) contested the claim in the petition that no action has been taken, saying that a criminal case has already been initiated on the basis of the said complaint of the petitioner and five persons have been arrested. He also said that the petitioner is claiming to be a residence of a big slum of the locality, but this slum has already been demolished for the execution of some development work. He denied that there was a threat to the life of Das in the locality.
“Be that as it may, Article 19(1)(d) of the Constitution of India guarantees free movement of every citizen throughout the territory of India. Therefore, the respondent is directed to ensure that no atrocity is perpetrated upon the petitioner if she wishes to return to the locality in question,” the court said.
The order said: “The grievance of the petitioner as ventilated in the writ petition has been well addressed since criminal case has been initiated on the basis of her complaint, therefore, no further order on this score need be passed.”
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The petition was disposed of with the above observations without any order as to costs, the court ordered.