Buddha responsible for Nandigram firing, says West Bengal govt to HC

The state government submitted to the Calcutta High Court on Friday that the chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was responsible for the police firing that took the lives of 14 farmers on 14 March, 2007 but the CBI had not questioned him.

The government conducted the enquiry on an order of the high court which initiated a suo motto case on the day after the Nandigram violence triggered a widespread controversy. Advocate general Balai Roy placed a report before the division bench, headed by Chief Justice Surinder Singh Nijjar.

Altogether seven petitions were filed before the court seeking an impartial probe into the Nandigram killings. The court, however, began to hear the petitioners early this week. Two of the petitioners- Calcutta High Court Bar Association and the Rights Watch Group Association For Protection of Democratic Rights- completed their submission before the court. The court directed the other petitioners to file their submission before the bench in writing. 

The state government would defend the case before the bench from Monday. The CBI, in its probe status of Nandigram firing case, has told the Calcutta High Court that it is still awaiting the state government’s nod to prosecute the police officers responsible for opening fire at the protesters in Nandigram.