Road, rail traffic disrupted in Bengal; fresh scuffles between cops and BJP workers
Kolkata: BJP activists blocked road and rail traffic at several places on Monday during a 12-hour bandh called by the party in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district to protest attacks on its leaders, police said.
Governor Jagdeep Dhankar, meanwhile, visited BJP MP from Barrackpore Arjun Singh, who is recuperating at a private hospital after he suffered injuries during a protest on Sunday, and expressed concern over the law and order situation in the state.
"I was in Delhi. I cut short my visit to meet Arjun Singh this morning as there has been a serious incident. I am worried at the moment," Dhankar told reporters.
Shops and other business establishments remained closed during the day, causing inconvenience to people. Fresh scuffles broke out between police and BJP workers at Lakuthi and on Barrackpore-Barasat Road when protesters tried to forcibly cross barricades.
According to a senior officer at Barrackpore Police Commissionerate, some BJP workers and policemen were injured in the melee. Naihati-Chinsurah ferry services were also affected as agitators demonstrated at jetties. The BJP on Sunday gave a call for a 12-hour bandh to protest alleged attacks on its leaders, including the Sunday's assault on MP Arjun Singh.
Singh claimed Barrackpore police commissioner Manoj Verma struck him, causing a gash on his head, while he and his supporters were holding a "peaceful protest" at Kankinara in the district against the "capture" of its party office by Trinamool Congress (TMC) activists.
After meeting Singh, the governor said,"I am in pain looking at all this violence. I feel pain when something happens to teachers, doctors, lawyers and journalists."
West Bengal is witnessing an unending spiral of violence since the Lok Sabha polls. In the northern fringes of Kolkata, state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh was reportedly heckled by the ruling party supporters on Friday.
On the same day, Bongaon North MLA Biswajit Das, who recently switched over to the BJP from the TMC, was also allegedly assaulted, while he was on his way to the Assembly.
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Cash discovery row: Allahabad High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma resigns
New Delhi (PTI): Embattled Allahabad High Court judge Yashwant Varma, who was facing heat after wads of burnt currency notes were recovered from his residence here last year, has submitted his resignation to President Droupadi Murmu, rendering the impeachment proceedings against him as infructuous.
The purported discovery of a huge stash of cash took place after a fire broke out at Lutyens' Delhi residence of Justice Varma, then a Delhi High Court judge, at around 11:35 pm on the night of Holi on March 14, 2025, prompting the fire department personnel to rush to the spot and douse the flames.
In a letter sent to the President on April 9, the 57-year-old Justice Varma said he was tendering his resignation with "deep anguish" and it was an honour to serve the office.
"Your Excellency, While I do not propose to burden your august office with the reasons which have constrained me to submit this missive, it is with deep anguish that I hereby tender my resignation from the office of Judge of the Hon'ble High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, with immediate effect. It has been an honour to serve in this office," the resignation letter sent to the President on April 9 said.
The pending impeachment proceedings, intended to remove Varma from his office, becomes infructuous due to his resignation.
Consequently, a three-member inquiry committee comprising Supreme Court judge Justice Aravind Kumar, Madras High Court Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and senior advocate B V Acharya was conducting an inquiry, a condition precedent, before an impeachment motion.
Justice Varma's case saw many twists and turns after he refused to heed to the advice of then CJI Sanjiv Khanna to resign following two damning reports of judges.
Left with no option, Justice Khanna wrote to the President to proceed further to impeach Justice Varma.
He was later repatriated from the Delhi High Court to the Allahabad High.
The top court on January 16 had dismissed Varma's plea challenging the Lok Sabha Speaker's decision to admit an impeachment motion and the validity of a panel set up to inquire corruption charges against him, saying a provision in law cannot be used as a weapon to scuttle parliamentary proceedings.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla admitted a multi-party motion for Justice Varma's removal on August 12 last year.
In an unprecedented move, the apex court on March 22 last year had uploaded on its website an in-house inquiry report, including photos and videos, into alleged discovery of a huge stash of cash at the residence of Justice Varma.
On March 22, 2025 then CJI Khanna had constituted a three-member committee to conduct an inquiry.
Justice Varma had "unequivocally" stated that no cash was ever placed in the storeroom "either by me or any of my family members and (I) strongly denounce the suggestion that the alleged cash belonged to us".
Justice Varma was enrolled as an advocate on August 8, 1992. He was appointed as an additional judge of the Allahabad High Court on October 13, 2014. High Court judges retire at the age of 62.
He took oath as a permanent judge of the Allahabad High Court on February 1, 2016, before being appointed as a judge of the Delhi High Court on October 11, 2021.
A judge of a constitutional court can only be removed from office through an impeachment motion passed by Parliament.
