PM to inaugurate Jalpaiguri circuit bench, WB govt ‘kept in the dark’

KOLKATA: The acrimony between the Bjp-led government at the Centre and the TMC regime in West Bengal hit another

low on Thursday with the state government alleging that it was kept in the dark about the inauguration of the

long-awaited Jalpaiguri circuit bench of the Calcutta High Court by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday nor invited to it.

Neither Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee nor the judges of the Calcutta High Court were invited to the programme by the Centre, state

Law Minister Malay Ghatak said.

“The prime minister should be ashamed for taking to such petty politics,” he said, adding that the Centre’s move to inaugurate the circuit bench was “politically motivated”.

Besides, it was illegal to keep the state government in the dark about the inauguration programme, Ghatak said.

“We (the state government) have not received an invitation from the Centre for the inauguration of the circuit bench Friday by the prime minister. This is politically motivated. The BJP government must understand that the judiciary is different from politics,” he told reporters here.

“We bore all the costs for setting up the circuit bench, and now they (the Centre) are trying to take the credit for it. The people of north Bengal know that the circuit bench was set up by the TMC government,” Ghatak said.

The project cost had already crossed Rs 350 crore, and the state had spent Rs 40 crore for the infrastructure, he added.