Citizenship Act: HC seeks fresh response from WB govt on law

The Calcutta High Court on Thursday sought a fresh response from the West Bengal government on law and order situation in the state which is witnessing protests against the new citizenship law.

A division bench of Chief Justice TBN Radhakrishnan and Justice Arijit Banerjee directed the state government to submit its response on several PILs on Friday.

The PILs were filed over the breakdown of law and order and constitutional validity of the West Bengal government's campaign that the amended Citizenship Act will not be implemented in the state though the Supreme Court has refused to give a stay on it.

The high court had on Monday directed the state government to file a report on action taken regarding law and order situation in West Bengal, amid violent protests against the citizenship law.

The order came in response to a single PIL filed by Surajit Saha, a resident of Howrah that has seen several incidents of vandalism and arson.

The report submitted on Thursday by Advocate General Kishore Dutta said no communal violence occurred in the state, no casualty was reported in stray incidents of protests, various preventive measures were taken and only five to six railway stations out of around 715 were affected.

Chief Justice Radhakrishnan said it is the duty of the Railway to take care of its property and it has a force to do so.

To a petitioner who said people are being inconvenienced as several trains were suspended, the Chief Justice said it is not the duty of the state government to operate the railways.

He said the focus thus will be on the law and order though newspaper reports suggest that the situation is being brought under control.

However, such reports cannot be taken as a gospel, the Chief Justice said in response to the PILs.