Calcutta HC seeks report on electrocution deaths
The Calcutta High Court today directed the West Bengal government, Kolkata Municipal Corporation and CESC to submit a comprehensive report through affidavits on the city’s drainage systems and conditions and causes of so many deaths in the electrocution during unprecedented rains in the night of Monday-Tuesday. The court also sought a report if there are unauthorised constructions near rivers and canals by November 7. The court also asked the Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation Limited (CESC) to submit a report on why electrocution took place during the rain in the city on Monday night and in the wee hours of Tuesday. A double bench of Acting Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Apurba Sinha Ray following a PIL sought a report from the CESC on the electrocution incidents that led to the death of at least 8 people in different parts of the city after they came in contact with snapped wire on the city streets. The Bench directed the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) to furnish details of what preventive action was taken and what steps initiated when the entire city was flooded. The report should also contain the sewage system to drain out the waters and why waters accumulated 24 hours after rains stopped, court sources said. The West Bengal government has been directed to clarify its action plans to safeguard the lives of the citizens and compensation for the victims’ families. At least 10 people died in electrocution incidents, with 8 fatalities in Kolkata and 2 in Bishnupur and Narendrapur in South 24 Parganas.
Calcutta High Court urges stakeholders to resolve Metro viaduct clearance issue
The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday suggested that all stakeholders meet to resolve the impasse over police clearance for construction of a viaduct on the Kavi Subhash–Airport Metro line at Chingrighata, across the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass. Completion of the viaduct will allow commercial services to begin between Kavi Subhash and Sector V Metro stations, easing travel for thousands of commuters. A division bench presided over by Justice Sujoy Paul, with Justice Smita Das De, said the issue should be addressed in “larger public interest.” The court directed counsels representing the Metro Railway, Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd. (RVNL), the West Bengal government and Kolkata Police to inform it on Thursday of the date of a proposed meeting and the names of officers authorized to take decisions. “During the course of hearing, the court suggested that in order to solve the problem which is in larger public interest, why not competent officers of all stakeholders sit together to find out a solution,” the bench noted in its order. The counsels welcomed the proposal and agreed to update the court on scheduling. The bench said it will fix a date and time limit for the joint meeting after receiving inputs on Thursday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated three new Metro sections in Kolkata on Aug. 22, including part of the Kavi Subhash–Airport line. Services on the line currently operate up to Beleghata from Hemanta Mukhopadhyay (Ruby Hospital) station. Metro Railway authorities said they are awaiting police permission to launch girders at the Chingrighata crossing, which will link already completed stretches on both sides.
Three women attempt self-immolation outside Calcutta High Court over alleged cooperative fraud
Three women tried to set themselves on fire outside Gate ‘E’ of the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday, protesting alleged corruption and voter list manipulation by a cooperative society in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district, police said. The women, identified as members of the Amgachhia Srishti Sangha Primary Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society Ltd., were stopped by police moments before one of them could ignite herself after pouring kerosene. Officers overpowered them and took them to SSKM Hospital for medical examination before moving them to Hare Street police station for questioning. According to police, the women alleged that despite depositing large sums of money with the cooperative, they had neither received their returns on time nor a refund. They claimed the society had for years enticed members with promises of high interest rates but failed to honour its commitments. The cooperative, established in 2017, held its latest election earlier this year. The women alleged that their names were deliberately omitted from the voter list despite an order from a Calcutta High Court division bench directing the publication of a fresh list. The society’s management allegedly ignored the court’s directive, they said. “This is a huge scam. There is an entire crime racket operating from within this cooperative, but we are getting no justice,” one of the women told reporters before being escorted away by police. The attempted self-immolation, which took place mid-morning, drew a large crowd outside the court complex and briefly disrupted normal proceedings as bystanders gathered at the scene. A senior police official said an investigation had been launched into the allegations and the events leading to the protest. “We will examine the claims made against the cooperative society and take action as per law,” the official said. The cooperative’s management was not immediately available for comment. Financial irregularities in rural and semi-urban cooperative societies have been a recurring issue in West Bengal, often leading to protracted legal disputes and protests by aggrieved depositors.
