Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal

The Calcutta High Court ...

A Calcutta High Court bench comprising observed that it is the duty of the Court to protect the Constitution and its values and the principles of democracy, which has been held to be a basic structure of the Constitution.

In a major setback for the Mamata Banerjee government, the five-judge Supreme Court bench of Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justices IP Mukerji, Harish Tandon, Soumen Sen and Subrata Talukdar on Thursday ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged cases of murder and crimes against women during the violence that followed the elections in West Bengal.

The Calcutta High Court Bench had received a brief report from the seven-member NHRC team, now visiting the state to look into the complaints regarding West Bengal post-poll violence.

West Bengal Bar Council has written to Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana, seeking immediate removal of Acting Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court Rajesh Bindal.

During the first half of the hearings, Senior Advocate Dr Abhisekh Manu Singhvi, said that casual arrest (as has allegedly happened) “is a draconian thing.

The court listened to the SG for a while, before Senior Advocate Kalyan Bandopadhyay, appearing for the state, said that while the SG’s contentions were going on, his clients remained hanging under house arrest.