CHOUHAN ORDERS PROBE INTO FARMER’S ‘SUICIDE’ HC stays Bengal govt order on Puja grants
KOLKATA: Calcutta High Court on Friday ordered an interim stay on the West Bengal government’s decision to pay a grant of ~10,000 to each of the 28,000 Durga Puja committees in the state.
The bench of acting chief justice Debasish Kar Gupta and justice Shampa Sarkar ordered the stay till October 9, by when the state government will have to file an affidavit clarifying points raised by the court.
The court was acting on a public interest litigation filed by advocate Dyutiman Chatterjee and Sourav Gupta, a civilian.
On September 10, chief minister Mamata Banerjee had announced that 28,000 puja committees in the state, of which 3,000 are in Kolkata, would be given a one-time grant of ~10,000 each. The step would cost the public exchequer ~28 crore.
“The decision of the state government is unconstitutional since we live in a secular state and it cannot patronise a religious festival in this manner,” said Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, the counsel for the petitioners and former Kolkata mayor.
“The government argued that the donation was given to promote the state’s campaign for safe driving that carries the slogan ‘Safe drive, save life’. The court was not satisfied with the reply and sought an affidavit from the state government,” he added.
Advocate general Kishore Dutta was present on behalf of the state. He did not respond to telephone calls or text messages chief minister said, “We have full respect for the court. But we have already given the money (to Puja committees). How will we take the money back?”
The BJP’s state unit welcomed the order, claiming that the state was indulging in “dole politics” to win Hindu votes ahead of Lok Sabha polls. “We welcome the court order. What the state government is doing is nothing but dole politics. Earlier also, with an eye on Muslim votes the government had announced allowances for Imams. Now, this has been done to pacify Hindus... we all must remember that India is a secular country and we cant preach such kind of politics,” BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said.
Md Salim, CPI(M) politburo member and Lok Sabha MP, said, “This was an unprecedented violation of the Constitution by the state government, since a state cannot spend public money for BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday ordered an inquiry by an IG-rank police officer into the alleged suicide by a 32-year-old farmer in Seoni district on September 29.
The farmer is said to have consumed pesticide after the grain mandi did not pay his dues of ₹5.50 lakh for 120 quintals of gram crop he had sold four months earlier. He died on October 1. Chouhan, who was on a one-day visit to Seoni, announced the probe at a public meeting after local MLA Dinesh Rai Munmun raised the issue. Earlier, Congress had highlighted the issue in Bhopal and slammed the government its insensitivity towards farmers.
Congress vice-president (media cell) Bhupendra Gupta alleged that on September 25, Sant Kumar Sanodiya of Bhandarpur village had written a letter, reportedly in blood, to the Seoni district collector warning that he would commit suicide if his dues were not cleared by September 28. The letter was widely circulated on social media.
The Congress leader claimed that finding his dues not cleared by that date, Sanodiya drank pesticide on September 29. He was taken to a local hospital and then shifted to one in Nagpur where he died on October 1. Next day, angry villagers blocked the national highway and demanded compensation of ₹1 crore and a job for his kin. Sensing trouble, the administration announced ₹10 lakh in damages.
The farmer’s younger brother, Gyan Singh Sanodiya (28), alleged it was the administration’s apathy that led to his brother’s death. “Despite the warning letter... the administration did not take any action...”. He said the administration gave a cheque of ₹5 lakh so far, and alleged that it prevented them from meeting the CM...”
Seoni district magistrate Gopal Chandra Dand, however, said, “On investigation conducted after his death, the district administration found that neither was Sant Kumar Sanodiya a farmer nor did he sell any crop to any mandi... He was a small trader who had deposited the 120 quintal of gram taken from other farmers at the co-operative society well after the last date of submission, so his claim was not registered and he was blackmailing