Synopsis
A new petition has been filed in the Calcutta High Court claiming police misconduct against Jadavpur University students during the March 1 incident. The petition raises serious allegations regarding police behavior and calls for action.Key Takeaways
- New petition filed in Calcutta High Court.
- Allegations of police misconduct against JU students.
- Incident related to March 1 ruckus at university.
- Two students hospitalized after being hit by Minister's vehicle.
- Justice Ghosh criticizes police investigation methods.
Kolkata, March 10 (NationPress) A new petition was submitted to a division bench of the Calcutta High Court on Monday, claiming police misconduct against the students of Kolkata's renowned Jadavpur University (JU) in the incident that occurred on March 1.
Two students were admitted to the hospital after being “allegedly and intentionally” struck by the vehicle belonging to West Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu on the university grounds.
This latest petition was lodged at the same single judge bench of Justice Tirthankar Ghosh, who last week expressed frustration over the purportedly “biased and one-sided” investigation conducted by the Kolkata Police. The court had instructed the city police to file FIRs based on the complaints made by university students rather than solely addressing the complaints from the Trinamool Congress-affiliated West Bengal College & University Professors’ Association (WBCUPA).
The new petition was submitted by Uddipan Kundu, a member of the CPI(M) student wing, the Students’ Federation of India (SFI). The case is expected to be heard on Tuesday.
In his petition, Kundu has accused the police of “repeatedly” and “unjustly” summoning university students under the guise of an investigation.
He alleged that the police harassed students when they refused to surrender their mobile phones during an earlier interrogation on March 7. Following this, Kundu asserted that those same students were once again summoned by police for questioning.
On March 1, chaos erupted on the university campus when the Minister's vehicle was reportedly halted after entering the premises, leading to a scuffle. The students were demanding prompt elections for the university's student council.
The protesting students claimed that while Basu opted to leave the campus amidst the demonstrations, his vehicle intentionally struck two of the protesting students, resulting in serious injuries that required hospitalization.
During the protests, the Minister suffered minor injuries and felt unwell. He was taken to the state-run S.S.K.M. Medical College & Hospital and was later discharged.
While hearing another case related to this issue last week, Justice Ghosh commented on the intelligence failure of the Special Branch of the Kolkata Police, stating that they were unaware of the student protests while the Education Minister was present.
Referring to the recent student movements in Bangladesh, Justice Ghosh warned that if such intelligence shortcomings persist, the situation in West Bengal could escalate similarly to that in the neighboring nation.
