TMC MP Abhishek attacks Centre, BSF over 'killing' of youth
Cooch Behar (WB) (PTI): Senior TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee slammed the Centre and the Border Security Force (BSF) over the "killing" of a local person in West Bengal's Cooch Behar district in December last year, who the paramilitary force claimed was a "cattle smuggler".
Prem Kumar Barman, 24, was gunned down by a BSF constable in the Dinhata block near the India-Bangladesh border in December 2022.
His family members claimed that he was a "migrant labourer who had returned home a few days back", whereas the BSF contended that the deceased was a "cattle smuggler".
"Why did the BSF personnel shoot Prem Kumar? Was it because he was a Rajbangsi? We are giving 48 hours to the BSF, the Centre, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and local MP Nisith Pramanik to clear their stand and apologise to the people of Cooch Behar," the TMC national general secretary said while addressing a rally here.
Claiming that Prem Kumar's autopsy report had stated that 180 pellets were fired at him, Banerjee said he was shocked at the "atrocity meted out to the local youth".
"Even if Prem Kumar was a cattle smuggler, which the BSF claims, why did you not arrest him? Did you find any gun with him? What was the need to fire at him? All those guilty BSF officials will be brought to justice, even if we have to approach the high court or the Supreme Court," he said.
Reacting to the allegations, BJP MLA Shankar Ghosh accused the TMC of "being sympathetic to infiltrators and cattle smugglers"
"This is a matter of shame that for political interests, a party can stoop to such a low that it questions the BSF and our security forces. This is shameful. The TMC, from the very beginning, has a habit of being sympathetic towards cattle smugglers, infiltrators and anti-nationals to secure its vote bank," he claimed.
The BJP-led Union government had, in 2021, amended the BSF Act to authorise the use of force to undertake search, seizure and arrest within a 50 km stretch, instead of 15 km, from the international border in Punjab, West Bengal and Assam.
It has snowballed into a major political issue in Bengal, with the ruling TMC passing a resolution in the state assembly opposing the Centre's decision.
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K’taka HC judge whose controversial remarks triggered controversy expresses regret before open court
Bengaluru: Karnataka High Court judge, Justice V Srishananda, on Saturday expressed regret in open court after facing backlash over his controversial remarks in his recent court hearings, reported Bar and Bench.
Two purported video clips from Justice V Srishananda’s court hearing that show him making inappropriate comments went viral across social media platforms.
On Saturday, Justice Srishananda invited members of the Advocates Association, Bengaluru, and senior lawyers to his courtroom at 2:30 PM, where he read out a note expressing regret for inappropriate comments.
Quoting Advocates Association President Vivek Subba Reddy, Bar and Bench wrote, “He expressed regret for the comments and clarified that it was not his intention to offend any community or members of the Bar. He also requested the association to relay this message to all members of the Bar.”
Reddy further stated, “We also advised him to encourage young lawyers in the courtroom and refrain from making any irrelevant remarks during hearings.”
Another senior lawyer present during the session confirmed to the legal news portal that Justice Srishananda also addressed comments directed at a woman lawyer, who was seen in one of the videos being reprimanded by the judge. The judge Justice Srishananda clarified that his remarks were not intended to target her (woman lawyer) specifically, but rather pertained to the appellant she was representing. “He explained that his comment was meant to imply that the appellant seemed to know a lot about the other party,” said the lawyer.
In addition, Justice Srishananda assured those present that he would avoid making such comments in the future.
The controversy came to light on September 19, when a video clip from an August 28 Court hearing surfaced on social media, showing Justice Srishananda referring to a Muslim-majority sub-locality in Bengaluru’s Goripalya as "Pakistan." Hours later, another video from the same courtroom emerged, in which the judge was seen making a gender-insensitive remark.
Following outrage over the viral videos, a Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, along with Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, Surya Kant, and Hrishikesh Roy, on September 20 took a suo motu cognizance and sought a report from the Karnataka High Court Registrar General in connection with the viral video.
