Apex court admits contempt petition against CPI-M leader
By IANSFriday, September 24, 2010
NEW DELHI - The Supreme Court Friday admitted a petition seeking contempt proceedings against Communist Party of India-Marxist’s (CPI-M) West Bengal unit secretary Biman Bose for assailing the Calcutta High Court order directing a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the 2007 Nandigram police firing.
The police firing in Nandigram on March 14, 2007, claimed 14 lives and about 167 people were injured.
The apex court bench of Justice R.V. Raveendran and Justice H.L. Gokhale admitted the petition by the Bar Association of Calcutta High Court, challenging the Calcutta High Court order discharging Bose and two other accused “merely on technical grounds without going into the merit of the case”.
The association contended that the high court order has resulted in “complete miscarriage of justice”.
The police action was criticised even by then West Bengal governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi. The Calcutta High Court admitted a public interest litigation Nov 16, 2007 and ordered a CBI probe into the incident.
Along with CPI-M central committee member Shymal Chakarborty and West Bengal chief of the Centre of India Trade Unions (CITU) Benoy Konar, Biman Bose addressed a public meeting Nov 17 where they assailed the high court order directing the CBI probe.
Taking cognizance on its own of public criticism of its decision to order CBI probe, the high court initiated contempt proceedings against Bose, Chakraborty and Konar.
However, in the course of the proceedings, the high court came to conclusion that rules for initiation of contempt proceedings were defective and let off all three.
