The Trinamool Congress government will approach a Division Bench of Calcutta High Court against the Single Bench order that had directed the State government to start criminal proceedings against Trinamool MP Tapas Paul for his ‘rape and shoot’ remarks.
Law Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya told journalists on Tuesday that since the MP had tendered his apology such an action was not necessary and the State government would file an appeal before a Division Bench. The State may move the Division Bench on Wednesday.
Justice Dipankar Datta in an interim order on Monday had directed that an FIR be registered against the Trinamool MP and ordered West Bengal’s Director General of Police to ‘issue appropriate instructions to the DIG, C.I.D. for a free, fair, proper probe into the FIR’.
The Judge in 43-page order had made scathing comments on the Trinamool MP describing his remarks ‘outrageous and surpasses all bounds of civility’. The court also came down heavily on the police inaction in the matter and observed that the ‘apathy and indifference of the police not to swing into action immediately points to the depths of lawlessness that the State has touched’.
While the judgment has been welcomed by major political parties in the opposition, senior Trinamool Congress leadership remained tight-lipped.
However, much to the embarrassment of the Trinamool, former State minister Noor-e Alam Chowdhury welcomed the court’s verdict. “Such remarks are totally uncalled for. I welcome the court’s verdict as it will instil a sense of responsibility into the legislators,” Mr. Chowdhury, who is a retired High Court Judge, told journalists.
Another Trinamool MP from Burdwan-Durgapur Mumtaz Sanghamita also said that Mr. Paul’s remarks were uncalled for. “Such remarks cannot be justified under any circumstance. They are uncalled for,” Ms. Mumtaz said.
