Page 9 - Calcutta High Court

PIL seeking govt job reservation for locals in Andamans to be heard on Mon

A PIL seeking 100 per cent government job reservation for the local people in Andaman and Nicobar Islands will be heard on Monday at the Calcutta High Court's circuit bench here. Referring to the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, where the respective administrations have decided to reserve 100 per cent government jobs for the local people, Andaman and Nicobar Territorial Congress' Campaign Committee chairman TSG Bhasker had on March 8 filed the public interest litigation, demanding a similar provision for islanders. Bhasker's counsel PC Das said, In last few years, the number of unemployed youth is rising in the archipelago. Lack of private industries and struggling tourism sector, which is yet to recover from the COVID-19 impact, have became a concern among the domiciles of Andaman and Nicobar Islands when it comes to jobs." In the midst of these challenges, securing administrative Group C' and Group B' (non-gazetted) jobs in Andaman and Nicobar by applicants from

Calcutta HC clears way for ED to take Anubrata to Delhi in smuggling case

Clearing the way for the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to take senior Trinamool Congress leader Anubrata Mondal to Delhi for questioning in connection with a cattle smuggling case, the Calcutta High Court on Saturday set aside a petition by him challenging a production warrant issued by a special CBI court. The court also ordered Mondal to pay a fine of Rs one lakh for forum shopping. Rejecting the petition by Mondal challenging a production warrant issued by the special CBI court at Asansol in West Bengal, Justice Bibek Chaudhuri directed that the TMC Birbhum district president be taken to Delhi by air. He directed that doctors posted in a central government hospital in Kolkata in the department of general medicine, cardiology and general surgery will examine Mondal and issue a medical certificate stating the condition of the health of the petitioner before he is handed over to the ED. Justice Chaudhari directed that a medical officer will accompany Mondal to Delhi and he will be .

CBI to find reasons behind teacher recruitment outsourcing: Cal HC

The Calcutta High Court has directed the CBI to file a report before it within seven days on why confidential work of the West Bengal Primary Education Board related to the recruitment of teachers was outsourced to a private company. Hearing a petition in connection with alleged irregularities in the appointment of primary teachers in state government-sponsored and aided schools, the court also directed the agency to find out the mode of selection of the company. Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday to file the report by February 10 as to why the confidential work of the Board was outsourced to M/s. S.Basu Roy and Co. The court also directed the CBI to inform it in the report, which is to be submitted in a sealed cover, whether any tender was floated by the board before selecting the private company for such work. The court directed that for this purpose, the CBI should thoroughly interrogate Manik Bhattacharya, the former ...

Calcutta HC judge faces TMC's ire for criticizing CM's poetry collection

Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay of Calcutta High Court, who made headlines for his verdicts in the multi-crore teachers' recruitment irregularity scam in West Bengal, has come under fire from the TMC

Calcutta HC Bar Association divided over attending Justice Mantha's bench

Legal brains from the Calcutta High Court feel that if the stalemate on this count continues then the fate of a number of 400 cases pending at the bench of Justice Mantha will become uncertain

Calcutta HC grants 3-weeks immunity to BJP councilor over Asansol stampede

The Calcutta High Court on Thursday directed the police not to take any coercive action against a BJP councillor for three weeks from December 26 in connection with its probe into the death of three persons in a stampede during a blanket distribution programme. The court also directed Chaitali Tiwari, a BJP councillor of Asansol Municipal Corporation, to cooperate with the investigation into the incident of December 14, in which a 14-year-old girl was among the dead, and appear for questioning before the police. Chaitali Tiwari is claimed to be the organiser of the event. Justice Jay Sengupta said that Tiwari can move an anticipatory bail prayer before the appropriate bench by three weeks from Monday, while granting her protection from coercive action till then. Tiwari, the wife of BJP leader Jitendra Tiwari, moved the high court seeking protection from any coercive action by the police against her. Her lawyer Rajdeep Majumdar submitted that proper permission had been taken for ..

HC slams TMC govt over compensation delay to family of rape, murder victim

West Bengal govt faced the ire of Calcutta High Court over delay in compensation to family of a minor girl raped and killed in Nadia district in April this year

Cal HC says it expects SEC not to notify rural polls in Bengal till Jan 9

Allowing the SEC to file an affidavit stating its position on Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari's PIL, which alleged faulty process to determine OBC percentage, the Calcutta High Court said it expects the poll panel not to notify panchayat polls in West Bengal till January 9. Noting that the current population figures of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and the total population of the state should also be arrived at based on household surveys as is being done in the case of Other Backward Classes (OBCs), the petitioner claimed that two different yardsticks cannot be applied as that will lead to arbitrary results. A division bench presided by Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava on Wednesday granted two weeks' time to the State Election Commission (SEC) to file an affidavit in opposition and thereafter affidavit in reply by the petitioner be filed within another one week. The bench, also comprising Justice R Bharadwaj, said that it will also be open to the state to file an ...

Cal HC seeks BCI's reply on mother's identification for advocate enrollment

The Calcutta High Court has sought response of the Bar Council of India and its West Bengal counterpart on a prayer that enrolment application forms for advocates should also include space for information relating to mothers in addition to that of father and husband. Petitioner Mrinalini Majumdar, an advocate, claimed in the PIL that forms for enrolment and identity cards of the State Bar Council of West Bengal continue to depict an "overpowering streak of patriarchy". The petitioner claimed that forms for enrolment and identity cards issued by the Bar Council do not contain any column for mentioning particulars of mothers. A division bench presided by Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava directed the Bar Council to file an affidavit-in-opposition within four weeks. In its order earlier this week, the court said the State Bar Council of West Bengal, which is also a respondent in the petition, may file its affidavit within the same period, while the petitioner may file reply to these i

Calcutta HC rejigs SIT, DIG to head team in staff recruitment scam case

The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday removed two officers from the CBI Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the staff recruitment scam in West Bengal and brought in four new investigators as members. It also appointed a DIG as its head. The case pertains to irregularities in the recruitment of Group C and Group D staff and teachers in government-run and aided schools by the School Service Commission. Observing that the Cental Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was moving very slowly for "reasons best known to it", Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay said despite the SIT having been formed five months ago, only 16 of the 542 named as illegal-job getters in Group D had been questioned so far. The court, which is monitoring the investigation, directed that four new officers -- a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) and three inspectors -- will be inducted in the originally five-member SIT, while it ordered the removal of two officers -- a DSP and an inspector -- from the team. "I believe tha

Hearing on Trinamool minister's derogatory remarks on President postponed

After hearing the matter, the division bench of Chief Justice Prakash Srivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj ordered that a fresh copy of the petition be sent to Giri

PIL in Calcutta HC seeks CBI probe into irregularities in MGNREGA scheme

In the petition, LoP Suvendu Adhikari, also sought an audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India in the matter.

Calcutta High Court to decide fate of LET militant on death row on Monday

All eyes will be on Calcutta HC's division bench of Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Ananya Bandyopadhyay, which will pronounce verdict on death sentence awarded to LET militant Sheik Abdul Naim

HC asks GST dept to drop notices against firm facing audit proceedings

Calcutta High Court says not clear how parallel proceedings can be conducted by three wings of same department

Ex-Andaman chief secretary to appear before SIT over gangrape charges

Former chief secretary of Andaman and Nicobar Islands Jitendra Narain arrived in Port Blair on Thursday, following a Calcutta High Court order to appear before a Special Investigation Team, which is probing alleged gangrape charges against him, by October 28. Narain was escorted out of the airport amid heavy security cover, officials said. He did not respond to questions from mediapersons, who were waiting for his arrival at the airport. A vacation bench comprising justices Bibek Chaudhuri and Prasenjit Biswas also granted interim protection against arrest to Narain till a date that will be fixed by the circuit bench of the Calcutta High Court in Port Blair on November 14, on its first date of sitting after the Durga Puja vacation. The court also noted that Narain, who was transferred to Delhi on July 21, has declared that he is ready and willing to cooperate with the investigation. The SIT is probing an allegation by a woman that she was gangraped by Narain and others on April 14

SC upholds HC verdict to set aside re-appointment of Calcutta University VC

The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a Calcutta High Court verdict setting aside the re-appointment of Sonali Chakravarti Banerjee as vice-chancellor of the Calcutta University. A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and Hima Kohli said the impugned high court order is correct in law and facts and does not require interference. It said the State cannot have done away with the clause requiring approval of the the West Bengal governor, who is the chancellor of the university. On September 13, the Calcutta High Court set aside the reappointment of Banerjee as vice-chancellor of the Calcutta University, holding that the West Bengal government has no authority to do so as per provisions of the varsity's Act. Passing the verdict on a PIL by an alumnus of the university challenging the reappointment of Banerjee, the high court had held that the government order dated August 27, 2021, issued by a special secretary cannot be sustained. It had ordered that the state had no authority to appoint o

Calcutta HC rejects dearness allowance review petition filed by Bengal govt

A division bench of the Calcutta High Court on Thursday rejected a review petition of West Bengal government to reconsider an earlier judgement of the bench to clear dearness allowance (DA) arrears within three months. The bench comprising justices Harish Tandon and Rabindranath Samanta rejected the state government's petition to review its May 20 order. Upholding an order of the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT), the Calcutta High Court had in May directed the West Bengal government to release dearness DA arrears since July 2009, when the Revision of Pay and Allowances (ROPA) came into effect in the state, within three months. The state government had filed a writ petition in the high court challenging the SAT order of July 2019 that directed it to pay DA at par with the Centre, and to clear the amount in three instalments. The division bench on Thursday also fixed November 9 as the date of hearing of a contempt petition filed by the associations of state government employees, .

Calcutta High Court seeks govt report over violence in BJP's protest march

The High Court further directed the Police not to illegally detain any person and also ensure that there is no damage to public property

HC dismisses reappointment of Sonali Chakrabarti as Calcutta University V-C

Daughter of the late legendary Bengal poet, Nirendranath Chakrabarti, Sonali Chakrabarti Banerjee, is wife of Alapan Banerjee, former West Bengal Chief Secretary

Calcutta HC gives govt conditional approval for grants to Puja committees

A division bench of the Calcutta High Court gave conditional approval to the West Bengal government to offer donations worth Rs 60,000 crore to 43,000 community Durga Puja committees in the state