A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed before the Calcutta High Court seeking measures to prevent incidents of violence in West Bengal in the aftermath of the results of recently-held assembly elections..The matter is listed before a Bench of Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Partha Sarathi Sen on May 12. Advocate Ritankar Das, the filing counsel, told the Bar & Bench that they would make a mentioning to advance the date of hearing."There has been a noticeable increase in incidents of vandalism and defacement of statutes across the State of West Bengal," the plea filed by 22-year-old Rounak Mukherjee, a postgraduate student, said..The plea also said that there have been repeated incidents where shops and other structures belonging to private individuals have been demolished or threatened with demolition without any notice or adjudication by a competent authority.Particularly, the plea said there has been use of bulldozers and heavy machinery in and around the historic New Market/Hogg Market area in Kolkata, where structures were allegedly demolished in the presence of political workers, creating widespread panic among traders and local residents. "That video footages of the said incidents are widely available, which prima facie depict acts of destruction and demolition being carried out in a coercive atmosphere and significantly, the said video materials also appear to show the presence of police personnel at the site who are seen as mute spectators, failing to take any effective steps to prevent the destruction or to disperse the unlawful assembly," it alleged.As per the plea, on May 5, a statue of Lenin situated at Jiaganj in Murshidabad district was vandalised by a mob, allegedly using iron rods and hammers, triggering tension in the locality..The plea has urged the Court to direct immediate preventive measures to stop vandalism of private properties across West Bengal. It has also sought an inquiry into the incidents at New Market/Hogg Market.
