Central forces to stay in Bengal for 10 more days, high court orders phased exit | India News

KOLKATA: Calcutta High Court on Monday ordered that central forces deployed for the Bengal panchayat polls remain in the state for 10 more days.

The court held that the forces should be withdrawn in a phased manner according to the assessment of the ground situation by the IG (BSF), the nodal officer for force movement appointed by the Union home ministry.
A division bench of Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya directed the state to provide logistical support for the stay and movement of central forces. The directive came after additional solicitor general Asok Kumar Chakrabarti submitted to the court that the MHA wanted to withdraw central forces deployed in Bengal in a phased manner.

Advocate general S N Mookherjee submitted to the bench that central forces had come to Bengal for a specific purpose. Citing Entry 2A List I of the Constitution, Mookherjee said: “The Union government had deployed central forces in Bengal for maintaining normalcy. They should not continue after the purpose is over.”
The advocate general also submitted that “vast contingents” of central forces had already been withdrawn. “A total 136 companies of central forces of the total 239 companies present in the state have already been withdrawn. I have the full chart available with me,” he said.
The additional solicitor general objected to the advocate general’s submission. “Fifty-two companies moved out of the state on July 22 and another 84 on July 27,” Chakrabarti said.
The central forces, who are lodged in some schools, may pose a problem because the second summative exams were being scheduled by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education between August 1 and 8, said Secondary Teachers and Employees Association’s district secretary Animesh Haldar.