In a major blow to the Trinamool Congress supremo – Mamata Banerjee, who has been a trenchant critic of the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act and NRC, the Calcutta High Court has banned the party’s campaign against the recently passed bill.
A bench headed by the Chief Justice – T.B.N Radhakrishnan while hearing a petition alleging the state government of using public money for the campaigns ordered to remove Anti-CAA advertisements. The government in the ads openly declared that the CAA and NRC will not be implemented in the state.
The court also asked for a detailed reply to the petitioners’ claim that taxpayers’ money was used for the campaigns. The next hearing has been pushed to January 9.
The state government advertisement titled No CAB, No NRC appeared on the pages of the state government’s social networking sites, and certain Bengali TV news channels after the Parliament passed the controversial act.
West Bengal governor – Jagdeep Dhankhar has criticised CM Mamata Banerjee for the ads and demanded its removal.
The court also took stock of the collapse of law and order situation in the state after the new Citizenship Act got the presidents nod. Protest in Howrah and Murshidabad turned violent, with protesters burning rail tracks, empty trains and vandalising train station.
The judges also sought a detailed report from Indian Railways on the action taken to prevent the loss of property and monetary compensation for the damage caused during the violent protests.
Reacting to the high court’s judgement, BJP MP – Babul Supriyo tweeted, “If only Mamata Banerjee had taken advice from the few educated MPs and MLAs she has in her party about she (A CM) not having any authority, as per our constitution, to block an ACT that’s in the central List and anyone other than Didi would know that citizenship is Centre’s prerogative.
Also Read: Curious Case Of Govt Fact-Sheet On CAA & NRC: Partial Truth, Half-Baked Replies, But By Who?
