Bengaluru, August 31: The Gauri Lankesh Trust led by freedom fighter HS Doreswamy urged Deputy Chief Minister Dr G Parameshwar to ban Sanatan Samsta and withdraw the cases booked against Jignesh Mevani and Prakash Rai.

Trust members who met the DCM at the Vidhana Soudha here on Friday, said that cases were filed against Jignesh Mevani and Prakash Rai under Election Code of Conduct for participating and speaking at a campaign against communal forces during last Assembly election. Those cases should be withdrawn immediately, they demanded.

Later, Parameshwar told reporters that the trust members have asked him to ban the Sanatan Sanstha. The government would take a decision if the Sanatan Samsta’s involvement in the Gauri murder case was proved in the investigation, he said.

Doreswamy hailed the efforts of the government in arresting the accused in the case. Trust would conduct a meeting on September 5 to mark Gauri’s death anniversary and sought protection to the meeting. People from all over the country would participate in the programme. So, the government would give protection to the programme, he said.

Former minister BT Lalitha Nayak, chief minister’s former media advisor Dinesh Amin Mattu and others were present.



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Kolkata(PTI): Leader of Opposition in West Bengal assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, on Saturday wrote to Governor C V Ananda Bose, seeking an independent judicial inquiry into “administrative incompetence” and “public humiliation of citizens”at the Salt Lake Stadium here during an event featuring football legend Lionel Messi.

In his letter, Adhikari alleged that the stadium, built with public funds, was converted into a “private durbar” for political elites, resulting in humiliation and harassment of spectators who had purchased tickets.

"I write this communication with a profound sense of anguish, constitutional alarm, and moral urgency. What unfolded at the Yuva Bharati Krirangan was not merely an episode of administrative incompetence, it was a public humiliation of citizens, a grotesque exhibition of unrestrained political privilege, and a direct assault on the rule of law in the presence of thousands of witnesses," Adhikari asserted.

He claimed that football fans were denied basic amenities and dignified viewing due to unchecked VIP presence, obstruction of sightlines, and arbitrary restrictions.

Chaos unfolded at the Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday, after spectators resorted to vandalism on failing to catch a glimpse of Messi, alleging gross mismanagement by the organisers and obstruction of views by VIPs.

Police arrested the event’s prime organiser, Satadru Datta, while Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced the constitution of a high-level inquiry committee to probe the incident.

Adhikari, in his letter, held the sports department, police authorities and the minister-in-charge of sports and youth affairs responsible, alleging that the situation was “enabled, if not orchestrated”, by the state administration.

He claimed that the conduct of the authorities reflected indifference to public accountability and misuse of power.

The senior BJP leader also took exception to the inquiry committee announced by the chief minister, contending that it lacked independence and credibility.

Adhikari said the panel is headed by Justice (Retd) Asim Ray, who currently holds a statutory post under the administrative control of the state government, and includes senior bureaucrats whose actions are under scrutiny.

"This committee is structurally compromised, legally infirm, and morally indefensible," he said in the letter to the governor.

Adhikari urged Bose to exercise his constitutional authority to order the formation of a truly independent inquiry committee.

He proposed that the committee be headed by a sitting judge of the Calcutta High Court, and assisted by persons of unimpeachable integrity with no institutional, administrative or political affiliation with the state government.

“The issue transcends football, politics, and personalities. It concerns the right of citizens to be treated with dignity, the obligation of the state to act as trustee of public interest, and the duty of constitutional authorities to intervene when the executive becomes a law unto itself,” Adhikari said.

Later, speaking to reporters, he accused the state government of mismanaging the situation at Salt Lake Stadium, and demanded the resignation of the CM.

Adhikari said all those responsible for the fiasco should be arrested, and spectators must be provided refunds.

He alleged that senior Trinamool Congress leaders and their associates crowded around Messi, leaving thousands of fans at the stadium deprived of catching a clear glimpse of the football star.

“This was a case of misuse of power at the cost of ordinary citizens. The chief minister must take moral responsibility, those responsible for the incident should be arrested, and every fan who was cheated must get a refund,” Adhikari asserted.

He added that public anger would not subside without accountability and corrective action.