Calcutta High Court (Appellete Side)
Sri Suvendu Adhikari & Anr vs The State Of West Bengal & Ors on 12 April, 2025
Author: Soumen Sen
Bench: Soumen Sen
1
12.4.2025
Ct. No. 8
SB/ Sujoy
WPA (P) 153 of 2025
Sri Suvendu Adhikari & Anr.
Vs.
The State of West Bengal & Ors.
Mr. Soumya Majumder, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Billwadal Bhattacharyya, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Kaustav Bagchi
Mr. Anish Kr. Mukherjee
Mr. Suryaneel Das ... for the petitioners.
Mr. Kalyan Bandyopadhyay, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Anirban Ray , Ld. GP.
Mr. Arka Kumar Nag
Mr. Debangshu Dinda ... for the State
Mr. Nilanjan Bhattacharjee
Mr. Siddhartha Lahiri ...for U.O.I.
Mr. Rananessh Guha Thakurata
...for Intervenor.
1.
This Public Interest Litigation is filed by the Leader of the
Opposition Sri Suvendu Adhikari and one Mr. Tarun Jyoti
Tewari a practicing advocate and member of the Bharatiya
Janata Party.
2. In view of the urgency shown this matter has been
assigned to this Bench by Hon’ble The Chief Justice and
accordingly has been listed today and being heard in
presence of the parties.
3. Mr. Soumya Majumder, learned senior counsel appearing
on behalf of the petitioner submits that in view of escalation of
violence at Jangipur and Dhuliyan between two communities
and some other parts in the State of West Bengal, it is
imperative that the Central Police Force is to be deployed for
2
restoration of law and order and for ensuring communal
harmony.
4. Mr. Majumder submits that in fact various news reports
suggest that very recently at the request of the District
Administration Border Security Force (BSF) was deployed
and force was mobilized to help administration for restoring
normalcy in Jangipur, Murshidabad. It is submitted that the
presence of the BSF or Central Armed Police Forces may be
required to stop the escalation of violence and loss of life and
property.
5. Mr. Majumder has referred to Article 355 of the Constitution
of India read with List 1 of the 7TH Schedule Entry 2A to show
that the Union of India has the power to deploy forces in any
State in order to aid the civil administration in enforcing law
and order. It is further submitted that the said Advocate, in
fact, obliged the Union of India to exercise such power where
internal disturbance in a state is reported.
6. Mr. Majumdar has submitted that epicenter of the
disturbance is a border district of West Bengal and from there
it has escalated to the other parts in the State and a particular
community has been targeted during protest against Waqf
Bill.
7. Mr. Majumder has drawn our attention to paragraph nos.
13,14 and 17 of the petition, in his submission for an interim
order in terms of prayer (i).
8. Mr. Majumder has submitted that although it may be
canvased that the petitioners may not have lack of faith on
the intention of the State to prevent escalation of violence
3
having regard to the prevailing circumstances and the gravity
of the situation the deployment of the Central Armed Police
Force is desired to aid the administration in preserving the
law and order and securing the life and property of the
citizens.
9. Mr. Majumder has submitted that today provocative
statement has been made by the Minister-in-charge of Library
and two deaths have occurred in the District of Murshidabad.
In view of such conduct of the state machinery deployment of
Central Forces have become imperative. However, it has
been submitted that these facts were subsequent
developments which could not be included in the petition and
he has prayed to file a supplementary affidavit disclosing
such incidents.
10. The Union of Indian although represented has submitted
that due to paucity of time due to lack of any instruction, they
are unable make any submission.
11. Mr. Kalyan Bandyopadhyay, learned senior counsel
appearing with Mr. Arka Kumar Nag, learned special counsel
appearing on behalf of the State of West Bengal has
submitted that this is a politically motivated petition. Adequate
steps have been taken by the administration to secure the life
and property of the citizen. There is no material on record to
show that State has failed to perform its obligation and
discharge its constitutional duty. A chart has been handed
over to show the deployment of police personnel of various
hierarchy and till date about 138 persons have been arrested.
4
The chart referred to in the submission is reproduced
below.;-
Sl. No. Particulars Strength 1 DGP rank officer 01 2. ADG rank officer 03 3. IGP rank officer 02 4. DIG rank officer 02 5. SP rank officer 04 6. Addl. SP rank officer 03 7. Dy. SP 10 8. Inspector 10 9. SI/ASI 20 10. Specialized force [RAF/EFR] 480 11. General officers & force 300 Total arrest : 138
12. It is further submitted that six companies of BSF have been
deployed for assisting the police on the basis of the request
of the District Magistrate and they are all working under the
direction of local police. They have been deployed at
Jangipur and Dhuliyan at Murshidabad.
13. Mr. Bandyopadhyay submits that Article 355 cannot be
invoked unless the State made a request to the Union of
India for assistance of police force in maintaining the law and
order situation. However, Mr. Bandyopadhyay, has fairly
submitted the power of the Court to direct the deployment of
CRPF or para-military forces are not curtailed by the said
article depending upon the facts situation. He has also fairly
submitted that in a given situation the State police and
Central Police Forces can act hand in hand to pacify the
5
situation and ensure peaceful co-existence of different
communities in the State.
14. It is further submitted that the Hon’ble Chief Minister of the
State of West Bengal has made a public appeal to the people
of the State to maintain peace and harmony and more
particularly the population in the District of Murshidabad to
maintain harmony, peace and tranquility.
15. We have heard the learned advocates for the parties.
16. The duty of the Court is to protect the citizen. Every citizen
has right to life and it is the responsibility of the State to
ensure that the life and property of every citizen is secured. It
is undeniable that there have been frequent instances of
violence between communities at different parts in the State
of West Bengal and the disquieting situation prevailing till
today cannot be ignored. Although we have noted the stand
of the State that the State is making an endeavour to ensure
co-existence of different communities in peace and harmony
the measures so far taken does not appear to be adequate.
The situation is grave and volatile. Action is to be taken
against the culprits to arrest the atrocities committed on
innocent citizens on war footing. Constitutional Courts cannot
be a mute spectator and embroil itself in technical defences
when the safety and security of the people are at danger. The
deployment of Central Armed forces earlier could have de-
escalated the situations as it appears adequate measure
have not been taken in time. The Article 355 of the
Constitution of India has to be read as an enabling provision
with an obligation cast upon the Union of India that the State
6
is not inconvenienced by an internal disturbance in spite of
the fact that the State made attempt to de-escalate such
situation. We cannot turn a blind eye to the various report
that have surfaced which prima facie shows vandalism in few
districts of the State of West Bengal. The purpose of
deployment of the para-military forces or Central Armed
Police Force is only for the purpose of facilitating the State
Administration to ensure the safety and security of population
in this State. It cannot be denied that there is an internal
disturbance in some of the districts in the State which inter
alia, include Murshidabad. Apart from Murshidabad incidents
have been reported to have occurred at Amtala (South 24
Parganas), North 24 Parganas, Champdani (Hooghly),
Dhuliyan and Jangipur (Murshidabad) and even in parts of
Kolkata.
17. It would be open for the petitioners to file supplementary
affidavit disclosing the situation prevailing in the said three
districts and it would also be open for the State administration
to engage para-military forces or Central Armed Police Force
to ensure that no escalation of violence takes place and life
and property of the population of the said locality are safe
and secured.
18. Accordingly, we direct, the deployment of Central Armed
Forces in district Murshidabad who shall operate in the
District in co-operation with the civil administration so that the
situation which has necessitated the deployment of the
armed forces is effectively dealt with and normalcy is
restored. This direction, however, shall not be limited to the
7
district of Murshidabd and as and when required it should be
extended to other districts faced with similar situation in which
case the Central Forces may be deployed immediately to
arrest the situation and bring normalcy.
19. A comprehensive report shall be filed by the State with
regard to the steps taken pursuant to our order on the
adjourned date upon prior service to the parties.
20. The interim arrangement shall continue till 17th April, 2025.
21. All the parties may file their affidavits in the meantime.
22. The matter is made returnable on 17th April, 2025.
(Soumen Sen, J.)
(Raja Basu Chowdhury, J)