Can't accept verdict, but will abide by it: Mamata Banerjee on SC invalidating Bengal school jobs
Kolkata, Apr 3 (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said she respects the judiciary but disagrees with the Supreme Court’s verdict on school appointments "on humanitarian grounds" and dared the BJP that she was ready to be arrested for supporting the affected candidates.
While accusing the BJP and the CPI(M) of "hatching a conspiracy and influencing the verdict", Banerjee emphasised that while her government would abide by the top court ruling, it would explore all possible legal options.
"I have the utmost respect for the judiciary and judges, but from a humanitarian perspective, I cannot accept this judgment. As a citizen of this country, I have every right to express my opinion. While I respect the judge and the judiciary, I do not agree with the verdict," Banerjee said at a press conference at the state secretariat.
"How can a single person’s crime lead to punishment for all," Banerjee said.
She also took a defiant stance against the BJP's criticism of her support for the dismissed teachers.
"Our lawyers will review this matter. If the BJP wants to send me to jail for supporting them, they can. Catch me if you want to," she declared.
Referring to the alleged recovery of large amount of cash recovered from a judge's residence in New Delhi, she questioned why such cases are treated differently when money is found at a judge's home.
"I have heard and read reports of huge cash being recovered from a judge's residence. If you recover money from a sitting judge's home, he is only transferred. Then why were these candidates not transferred? The first judge (ex judge of Calcutta High court Abhijit Gangopadhyay) to give this order is now a BJP MP," she said.
She alleged that the verdict was "influenced by a conspiracy between the BJP and the CPI(M)".
Banerjee highlighted that the ruling had impacted not just the candidates but also their families.
"It's not just 25,000 candidates; their families are affected too. Why should so many people be punished for a few?" she questioned.
A Supreme Court bench, led by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar, upheld a Calcutta High Court order dated April 22, 2024, which annulled the appointments and directed the state government to initiate a fresh selection process.
Accusing the BJP of deliberately targeting Bengal, Banerjee asked whether being born in the state was a crime.
She raised concerns over the impact of the verdict on the education system.
"Over 11,000 of the affected teachers taught in Class 9 and 10, and more than 5,500 in Class 11 and 12. These are crucial years, the gateway to higher education. Many of them are correcting answer sheets of board exams. Do BJP and CPI(M) want the education system to collapse?" she asked.
The chief minister reiterated that her government would follow the court's ruling but explore all legal avenues.
"We have to accept the judgment and do whatever is legally possible," she said.
Banerjee clarified that the School Service Commission (SSC) is an autonomous body and that the state government would not interfere in its decisions."
"The SSC is an autonomous body. We, as the state government, will not interfere in their work. We will abide by the court's verdict," she asserted.
She also defended her government's stance on the issue and slammed the BJP's criticism."
"Sukanta Majumdar said that I am responsible for this. Why are they targeting Bengal all the time? I was born in Bengal, and I know the intention of the BJP and the central government," she said.
Referring to the arrest of senior TMC leader and former education minister Partha Chatterjee in the school jobs scam, Banerjee compared it to the Vyapam scam in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh.
"Our former education minister is in jail, but how many BJP leaders were arrested in the Vyapam case?" she questioned.
She reiterated her belief that the BJP was deliberately trying to weaken Bengal's education system.
"Does the BJP want to ensure the collapse of West Bengal's education system?" she asked.
The chief minister assured the affected candidates that she would stand by them.
"I know candidates are depressed, and I will meet them. I am with them on humanitarian grounds. I will tell them not to lose hope," she said.
Banerjee said she along with state education minister Bratya Basu would meet the candidates on April 7 at Netaji Indoor Stadium.
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US SC rejects 26/11 attack accused Tahawwur Rana’s plea seeking stay on his extradition to India
New York, Apr 7 (PTI): The US Supreme Court has rejected 26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana's appeal seeking a stay on his extradition to India, moving him closer to being handed over to Indian authorities to face justice.
Rana, 64, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin, is currently lodged at a metropolitan detention centre in Los Angeles.
He is known to be associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the 26/11 attacks. Headley conducted a recce of Mumbai before the attacks by posing as an employee of Rana’s immigration consultancy.
Rana had submitted an ‘Emergency Application For Stay Pending Litigation of Petition For Writ of Habeas Corpus' on February 27, 2025, with Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and Circuit Justice for the Ninth Circuit Elena Kagan.
Kagan had denied the application earlier last month.
Rana had then renewed his ‘Emergency Application for Stay Pending Litigation of Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus previously addressed to Justice Kagan’, and requested that the renewed application be directed to US Chief Justice John Roberts.
An order on the Supreme Court website noted that Rana's renewed application had been “distributed for Conference” on April 4 and the “application” has been “referred to the Court.”
A notice on the Supreme Court website Monday said that “Application denied by the Court.”
Rana was convicted in the US of one count of conspiracy to provide material support to the terrorist plot in Denmark and one count of providing material support to Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Lashker-e-Taiba which was responsible for the attacks in Mumbai.
New York-based Indian-American attorney Ravi Batra had told PTI that Rana had made his application to the Supreme Court to prevent extradition, which Justice Kagan denied on March 6. The application was then submitted before Roberts, “who has shared it with the Court to conference so as to harness the entire Court’s view.”
The Supreme Court justices are Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice Elena Kagan, Associate Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, Associate Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett, and Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
In his emergency application, Rana had sought a stay of his extradition and surrender to India pending litigation (including exhaustion of all appeals) on the merits of his February 13.
In that petition, Rana argued that his extradition to India violates US law and the UN Convention Against Torture "because there are substantial grounds for believing that, if extradited to India, the petitioner will be in danger of being subjected to torture."
"The likelihood of torture in this case is even higher though as petitioner faces acute risk as a Muslim of Pakistani origin charged in the Mumbai attacks,” the application said.
The application also said that his “severe medical conditions” render extradition to Indian detention facilities a “de facto" death sentence in this case.
The US Supreme Court denied Rana's petition for a writ of certiorari relating to his original habeas petition on January 21. The application notes that on that same day, newly-confirmed Secretary of State Marco Rubio had met with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Washington on February 12 to meet with Trump, Rana’s counsel received a letter from the Department of State, stating that “on February 11, 2025, the Secretary of State decided to authorise” Rana’s "surrender to India,” pursuant to the “Extradition Treaty between the United States and India”.
Rana’s Counsel requested from the State Department the complete administrative record on which Secretary Rubio based his decision to authorize Rana’s surrender to India.
The Counsel also requested immediate information of any commitment the United States has obtained from India with respect to Rana’s treatment. “The government declined to provide any information in response to these requests,” the application said.
It added that given Rana’s underlying health conditions and the State Department’s findings regarding the treatment of prisoners, it is very likely “Rana will not survive long enough to be tried in India".
During a joint press conference with Prime Minister Modi in the White House in February, President Donald Trump announced that his administration has approved the extradition of "very evil" Rana, wanted by Indian law enforcement agencies for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, "to face justice in India”.
A total of 166 people, including six Americans, were killed in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks in which 10 Pakistani terrorists laid a more than 60-hour siege, attacking and killing people at iconic and vital locations in Mumbai.
