এদিন শুনানির শুরুর দিকেই বিচারপতি চার্জশিট প্রসঙ্গে চলে আসেন। হাইকোর্টের নির্দেশ এই মামলার তদন্তের জন্য গঠিত রাজ্য পুলিশের বিশেষ তদন্তকারী দল হাইকোর্টকে না জানিয়েই বীরভূমের আদালতে চার্জশিট পেশ করায় অসন্তোষ প্রকাশ করে বিচারপতি ডিজিকে তলব করেছিলেন।এদিন ডিজিপির উদ্দেশে বিচারপতি প্রশ্ন করেন, চার্জশিট যখন পেশ করা হয়, তখন আপনি অনুমতি দিয়েছিলেন? আপনি কি মনে করেননি, চার্জশিট পেশের আগে হাইকোর্টের অনুমতি নেওয়া প্রয়োজন?
এই প্রশ্নের উত্তরে জিএমপি রেড্ডি বলেন, এবছর ১০ এপ্রিল আমরা আদালতে যে তদন্ত রিপোর্ট দেওয়া হয়, সেখানে আমরা জানাই, তদন্ত প্রায় শেষ করে এনেছি। খুব শীঘ্র চার্জশিট দেব। সেক্ষেত্রে হাইকোর্টের কোনও নির্দেশ ছিল না। আমার আইনি পরামর্শদাতারা আমাকে বলেন, সময়মতো চার্জশিট পেশ করতে না পারলে, ধৃত অভিযুক্তরা জামিনে মুক্ত হয়ে যাবেন। সেই অনুযায়ী চার্জশিট পেশ করেছি।
বিচারপতি এরপর আবারও প্রশ্ন করেন, আপনার কি মনে হয়নি, আদালতকে অবগত করা উচিত ছিল? আপনি ব্যক্তিগত ভাবে গোটা রিপোর্ট পড়ে দেখেছেন? আপনাকে কি কখনও বলা হয়েছিল যে, নিম্ন আদালতে চার্জশিট পেশের আগে হাইকোর্টকে অবগত করতে হবে?
ডিজিপি জিএমপি রেড্ডি তখন বলেন, আমার আইনি পরামর্শদাতারা বলেন যে, নিম্ন আদালতে চার্জশিট পেশের ক্ষেত্রে হাইকোর্ট কোনও নিষেধাজ্ঞা জারি করেনি। আমার আইনি পরামর্শদাতারা বলেন, এবিষয়ে হাইকোর্টকে জানানো হয়েছে।
বিচারপতি ডিজিপির কাছে জানতে চান, আপনি যে আইনি পরামর্শ পেয়েছিলেন, তার কোনও লিখিত নথি আছে?
উত্তরে জিএমপি রেড্ডি বলেন, না। গোটাটাই আলোচনার ভিত্তিতে হয়।
এরপরই পাড়ুইকাণ্ড প্রসঙ্গে চলে আসেন বিচারপতি। রিপোর্ট দেখতে দেখতে, অনুব্রত মণ্ডলের নাম না করেই ডিজিপির উদ্দেশে বিচারপতি প্রশ্ন করেন, আপনার কি কখনও মনে হয়নি যে, এই ভদ্রলোককে গ্রেফতার করা প্রয়োজন?
ডিজিপি উত্তরে বলেন, সেটা একটা অন্য অভিযোগ। তার ভিত্তিতে তদন্ত হচ্ছে। আমি জেলার পুলিশ সুপারকে নির্দেশ দিয়েছি, যত দ্রুত সম্ভব তদন্ত শেষ করতে।
ডিজিপির কথার সূত্র ধরেই হরিশ টন্ডন আবারও প্রশ্ন করেন, আপনার কি মনে হয় না, এই দু’টি ঘটনার মধ্যে একটা যোগসূত্র আছে? দু’টি বিষয়কে আপনি আলাদা করছেন কেন?
অনুব্রত মণ্ডলকে কার্যত ক্লিনচিট দিয়ে, জিএমপি রেড্ডি তখন উত্তরে বলেন, অনুব্রত মণ্ডলের বক্তৃতার ৪-৫ দিন পর খুনের ঘটনা ঘটে। খুনের ঘটনার সঙ্গে বক্তৃতার কোনও প্রত্যক্ষ যোগসূত্র আমরা পাইনি।
বিচারপতি হরিশ টন্ডন তখন জানতে চান, মৃতের পুত্রবধূ শিবানী ঘোষের বক্তব্য নিয়ে কী বলবেন?
ডিজিপি তখন বলেন, যতবার শিবানী ঘোষের বক্তব্য রেকর্ড করা হয়েছে, প্রত্যেকবারই কিছু অসঙ্গতি পাওয়া গিয়েছে। শিবানী ঘোষের সঙ্গে অন্য সাক্ষীদের বয়ানও মেলেনি।তাই অনুব্রত মণ্ডল ও বিকাশ রায়চৌধুরীর নাম চার্জশিট থেকে বাদ দেওয়া হয়েছে। যদিও আমরা পুঙ্খানুপুঙ্খ তদন্ত করেছি।
অনুব্রত মণ্ডলকে ডিজিপির ক্লিনচিট দেওয়ার ঘটনাকে অবশ্য তীব্র কটাক্ষ করছেন প্রাক্তন পুলিশ কর্তারা।।
বিচারপতির প্রশ্নোত্তর শেষ সকাল ১১.২০ নাগাদ আদালতকক্ষ থেকে বেরিয়ে যান ডিজিপি তারপর সরকারি আইনজীবী কল্যণ বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায়কেও বিচারপতি হরিশ টন্ডন প্রশ্ন করেন,
এত ঘটনার পর এই দুই ভদ্রলোকের বিরুদ্ধে কোনও আইনি পদক্ষেপ গ্রহণ করা কি সম্ভব? পাড়ুই মামলা ও অনুব্রত মণ্ডলের বিতর্কিত বক্তৃতা নিয়ে মামলার মধ্যে কি যোগসূত্র খোঁজা সম্ভব?
তবে এবিষয়ে কল্যাণ বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায় কোনও সন্তোষজনক উত্তর দেননি।
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KOLKATA: The state's police chief appeared in Calcutta high court on Thursday to give a clean chit to Trinamool Congress Birbhum president Anubrata Mandal in the Parui murder case.
DGP GMP Reddy told the court that Anubrata's speech of July 17, where he urged partymen to attack independent candidates and bomb policemen, had no link with the murder of Sagar Ghosh, father of an independent candidate, four days later. Reddy had been appointed by high court to oversee the probe after the victim's family alleged bias by local police.
Reddy said the Birbhum Trinamool chief — who Mamata Banerjee fondly calls 'Keshto' — was not involved in the killing. He explained that he dropped Anubrata's name from the chargesheet without informing the court because he had taken legal opinion and was satisfied that there was no "expressed intent" on Anubrata's part. Also, if the chargesheet had not been filed when it was, the two prime accused — Subrata Ray and Bhagirath Ghosh — would have got bail, he said.
Anubrata later told reporters in Bolpur: "The police did what they had to. I have nothing to say in this matter."
The DGP's clean chit comes at a time when Congress candidate Imran Masood from Saharanpur was arrested for making a hate speech. Anubrata's hate speech against independents is also on record and has been viewed in open court. The state tried everything it could to stop the DGP from having to appear in court, but Reddy eventually had to appear to explain in person why the chargesheet was filed without court consent since HC was monitoring the probe.
Reddy stepped into Justice Harish Tandon's courtroom at 10:30am on Thursday. Senior consul and Trinamool MP Kalyan Banerjee urged to the court to let him speak on the DGP's behalf. Justice Tandon told Banerjee that he would hear the DGP speak to him in person. Justice Tandon then asked Reddy if he was aware that he was the court-appointed head of special investigation team. DGP complied with the order, leading to a 25-minute questions-and-answer session.
The DGP said he and his team had done a proper investigation and that he had gone through the reports before they were filed in court. When Justice Tandon asked Reddy if he felt he should have taken leave of the court before filing the chargesheet, the DGP said he took legal opinion from the state advocate general, which indicated that the court had not passed any order restraining SIT from filing the chargesheet. Besides, Reddy said, the custody period of the main accused was getting over and the legal advice was that the chargesheet be filed in trial court.
Asked if he felt a chargesheet should have been filed against Anubrata, who was named in the FIR, the DGP said that the speech pertained to another case, which was being investigated. Reddy read out his affidavit, where he did not name Anubrata, but said "this person's speech" and the murder were not linked. Asked why Anubrata wasn't arrested despite the victim's daughter-in-law Shibani Ghosh's FIR, the DGP said Shibani had made different statements at different times. Her FIR names 41 people, but her judicial statement names 26, while she has identified only six people in the test identification parade, Reddy said.
The DGP reiterated said the speech was a matter of another investigation (lodged at the State Election Commission's behest by Birbhum district magistrate) and the two cases were different. "The law wants evidence. And there is no evidence to prove both incidents are linked," Kalyan Banerjee told the court.
Justice Tandon exempted the DGP from personal appearance till further orders. The judge took note of the DGP's submissions: 1. That Shibani's statement did not reveal any involvement of Anubrata in the crime, which is why his name was not included in the chargesheet 2. That there was no written document of the legal advice taken by the DGP 3. That a separate case has been instituted against Anubarata for his hate speech.
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Statesman News Service
Kolkata, 4 September
The Director-General of Police Mr GMP Reddy today in his submission to Calcutta High Court gave a clean chit to the Trinamul Congress Birbhum district president Anubarata Mondal in the Parui murder case and said the chargesheet filed by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) had earlier been submitted to the Suri court on the advice of a government counsel.
When Mr Justice Harish Tandon asked the DG if he could produce a written document to buttress his plea, Mr Reddy said he had received verbal advice.
The judge, who recorded the DG's submission, asked him how the chargesheet could be filed keeping the HC in the dark when the court was monitoring the case.
When Mr Justice Tandon also asked whether the chargesheet should have been filed against Mr Mondal for his inflammatory speech, Mr Reddy said the speech pertained to another case which was being investigated.
“Is it not linked ?” the court asked referring to the delivery of the speech and the murder that followed. “There is no evidence to link it”, the DGP replied when the court further asked why he was segregating the matter.
“When the report was filed, I had been informed that it had been brought to the court's notice,” the DGP said and replied in the affirmative when the court asked him whether he had mentioned it in his affidavit.
The DGP had appeared before the court personally as per the court's direction to explain why the charge sheet had been filed without taking its leave to file an affidavit. Since the statutory custody period of one of the main accused in the murder of Sagar Ghosh, father of Trinamul rebel Hriday Ghosh, was coming to an end, the DGP told the court that legal advice had been taken and accordingly the charge-sheet was filed before the trial court of Suri in Birbhum district.
Mr Reddy further told the court when he had taken legal opinion from the state advocate-general it was indicated that the court had not passed any order restraining the SIT from filing the charge-sheet.
When the state counsel Kalyan Bandopadhyay contended the court couldn't monitor the case, Mr Justice Tandon pointed out the public prosecutor Manjit Singh had acknowledged the court's monitoring. Mr Bandyopadhyay said : “The (PP's) submission was incorrect”. “In his speech, Mr Mondal had exhorted his supporters to burn down the houses of Opposition activists and it was later translated into action,” Mr Justice Tandon pointed out. “Can the speech be not tagged with the burning down of the houses ?” the court asked.
Mr Bandyopadhyay pleaded the court had no power to say why names of some persons were not in the charge-sheet. “Moreover, there is no charge of the investigation process being tried to be influenced,” it was submitted.
The matter will come up for hearing in the court on 9 September.
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Anubrata gets DGP clean chit in Parui murder case
KOLKATA: The state's police chief appeared in Calcutta high court on Thursday to give a clean chit to Trinamool Congress Birbhum president Anubrata Mandal in the Parui murder case.
DGP GMP Reddy told the court that Anubrata's speech of July 17, where he urged partymen to attack independent candidates and bomb policemen, had no link with the murder of Sagar Ghosh, father of an independent candidate, four days later. Reddy had been appointed by high court to oversee the probe after the victim's family alleged bias by local police.
Reddy said the Birbhum Trinamool chief — who Mamata Banerjee fondly calls 'Keshto' — was not involved in the killing. He explained that he dropped Anubrata's name from the chargesheet without informing the court because he had taken legal opinion and was satisfied that there was no "expressed intent" on Anubrata's part. Also, if the chargesheet had not been filed when it was, the two prime accused — Subrata Ray and Bhagirath Ghosh — would have got bail, he said.
Anubrata later told reporters in Bolpur: "The police did what they had to. I have nothing to say in this matter."
The DGP's clean chit comes at a time when Congress candidate Imran Masood from Saharanpur was arrested for making a hate speech. Anubrata's hate speech against independents is also on record and has been viewed in open court. The state tried everything it could to stop the DGP from having to appear in court, but Reddy eventually had to appear to explain in person why the chargesheet was filed without court consent since HC was monitoring the probe.
Reddy stepped into Justice Harish Tandon's courtroom at 10:30am on Thursday. Senior consul and Trinamool MP Kalyan Banerjee urged to the court to let him speak on the DGP's behalf. Justice Tandon told Banerjee that he would hear the DGP speak to him in person. Justice Tandon then asked Reddy if he was aware that he was the court-appointed head of special investigation team. DGP complied with the order, leading to a 25-minute questions-and-answer session.
The DGP said he and his team had done a proper investigation and that he had gone through the reports before they were filed in court. When Justice Tandon asked Reddy if he felt he should have taken leave of the court before filing the chargesheet, the DGP said he took legal opinion from the state advocate general, which indicated that the court had not passed any order restraining SIT from filing the chargesheet. Besides, Reddy said, the custody period of the main accused was getting over and the legal advice was that the chargesheet be filed in trial court.
Asked if he felt a chargesheet should have been filed against Anubrata, who was named in the FIR, the DGP said that the speech pertained to another case, which was being investigated. Reddy read out his affidavit, where he did not name Anubrata, but said "this person's speech" and the murder were not linked. Asked why Anubrata wasn't arrested despite the victim's daughter-in-law Shibani Ghosh's FIR, the DGP said Shibani had made different statements at different times. Her FIR names 41 people, but her judicial statement names 26, while she has identified only six people in the test identification parade, Reddy said.
The DGP reiterated said the speech was a matter of another investigation (lodged at the State Election Commission's behest by Birbhum district magistrate) and the two cases were different. "The law wants evidence. And there is no evidence to prove both incidents are linked," Kalyan Banerjee told the court.
Justice Tandon exempted the DGP from personal appearance till further orders. The judge took note of the DGP's submissions: 1. That Shibani's statement did not reveal any involvement of Anubrata in the crime, which is why his name was not included in the chargesheet 2. That there was no written document of the legal advice taken by the DGP 3. That a separate case has been instituted against Anubarata for his hate speech.
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DGP gives clean chit to Anubrata
Kolkata, 4 September
When Mr Justice Harish Tandon asked the DG if he could produce a written document to buttress his plea, Mr Reddy said he had received verbal advice.
The judge, who recorded the DG's submission, asked him how the chargesheet could be filed keeping the HC in the dark when the court was monitoring the case.
When Mr Justice Tandon also asked whether the chargesheet should have been filed against Mr Mondal for his inflammatory speech, Mr Reddy said the speech pertained to another case which was being investigated.
“Is it not linked ?” the court asked referring to the delivery of the speech and the murder that followed. “There is no evidence to link it”, the DGP replied when the court further asked why he was segregating the matter.
“When the report was filed, I had been informed that it had been brought to the court's notice,” the DGP said and replied in the affirmative when the court asked him whether he had mentioned it in his affidavit.
The DGP had appeared before the court personally as per the court's direction to explain why the charge sheet had been filed without taking its leave to file an affidavit. Since the statutory custody period of one of the main accused in the murder of Sagar Ghosh, father of Trinamul rebel Hriday Ghosh, was coming to an end, the DGP told the court that legal advice had been taken and accordingly the charge-sheet was filed before the trial court of Suri in Birbhum district.
Mr Reddy further told the court when he had taken legal opinion from the state advocate-general it was indicated that the court had not passed any order restraining the SIT from filing the charge-sheet.
When the state counsel Kalyan Bandopadhyay contended the court couldn't monitor the case, Mr Justice Tandon pointed out the public prosecutor Manjit Singh had acknowledged the court's monitoring. Mr Bandyopadhyay said : “The (PP's) submission was incorrect”. “In his speech, Mr Mondal had exhorted his supporters to burn down the houses of Opposition activists and it was later translated into action,” Mr Justice Tandon pointed out. “Can the speech be not tagged with the burning down of the houses ?” the court asked.
Mr Bandyopadhyay pleaded the court had no power to say why names of some persons were not in the charge-sheet. “Moreover, there is no charge of the investigation process being tried to be influenced,” it was submitted.
The matter will come up for hearing in the court on 9 September.
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West Bengal DGP gives clean chit to TMC leaders in Sagar Ghosh murder case
Kolkata: The West Bengal Director General of Police (DGP) GMP Reddy on Thursday gave a clean chit to Birbhum district Trinamool Congress leaders Anubrata Mondal and Bikash Roy Chowdhury in the Sagar Ghosh murder case.
The DGP appeared before the Calcutta High Court and defended the Special Investigative Team (SIT) move to submit the chargesheet before a lower court.
The DGP told the court that he was aware of the details of the SIT investigation and was satisfied with that. The SIT was constituted by the high court under the supervision of the DGP following a writ petition which alleged police inaction in the Sagar Ghosh murder case.
The DGP appeared before the Calcutta High Court and defended the SIT's move to submit the chargesheet before a lower court.
Ghosh, an independent candidate for 2013 state panchayat polls, was murdered allegedly by Trinamool activists three days after Mondal urged his supporters from a public platform to attack independent candidates and bomb the police if they came in the way. The DGP informed the high court that the SIT found no connection between Mondal's speech and Ghosh's murder. He explained the court that there are inconsistencies in the various versions of the complainant.
The DGP said that the state police have nearly wrapped up its investigation on a separate case against Anubrata Mondal in connection with his speech and will file chargesheet soon
He also told the court that the SIT submitted chargesheet before a lower court instead of the Calcutta High Court without leave of the latter as per legal advice provided to him.
The chargesheet had exonerated Mondal and Roy Chowdhury, both of who were named in the FIR.
Forty one people were named in the FIR which was lodged by Sagar Ghosh's relatives with Mondal topping the list of the accused although a previous complaint did not name him.
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