Author: Santanu Banerjee
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: December 30, 2000
The West Bengal Human Rights Commission
has sought clarification from the Principal Home Secretary of the state
on the recent statement by Chief Minster Buddhadeb Bhattacharya asking
the police to shoot the armed criminals.
In an important development, the
Commission had decided during a meeting held here here yesterday morning
to seek the Home Secretary's clarification on the Chief Minster's statement.
Speaking to this reporter, a senior
government official said: "The Chief Ministerial direction is likely to
go against the Article 21 of the Constitution which states that nobody
can be deprived of life and liberty without due trial by law."
A senior Commission official agreed
with the Opposition and the political critics of the statement that the
"special chief ministerial directive is likely to be misused by the police".
He, however, said the Commission would wait for Principal Home Secretary's
clarification before deciding on its future course of action.
Though the Chairman of the West
Bengal Human Rights Commission Justice Mukoolgopal Mukherjee said that
the Commission will hold a special meeting to discuss the situation arising
out of the Chief Minster's direction to police to "shoot the armed criminals,"
he felt that "the statement is not loaded against the Commission nor it
was meant to undermine it."
Various political parties, including
the Trinamool Congress and the Congress, sensed "a sinister design to silence
the political opponents of the CPI(M) in the state during the run up to
the Assembly election".
Mamata Banerjee saw "a plot to
use the police to kill the Opposition in places where the CPI(M) is busy
in village takeover with the help of police."
Abdul Mannan, a senior Congress
Legislative Party leader and party chief whip, said: "If Bhattacharya feels
that existing laws are not powerful enough to bring the criminals to books,
he can always have more stringent laws without violating the Constitution."
Interestingly, Bhattacharya defended
his stand yesterday saying. "Under the Constitution, the police have the
right to shoot when it is confronted with armed criminals who are out to
kill innocent people," he explained.
