TMC candidate dies of Covid, wife files criminal case against Sudeep Jain, other EC officials

KOLKATA: Wife of TMC candidate from Khardah Kajal Sinha, who died due to Covid, lodged a complaint with the police against Deputy Election Commissioner in-charge of West Bengal Sudeep Jain and other officials of the Election Commission (EC) holding them responsible for his death considering it to be the outcome of the lapses on the part of the poll body in holding the elections amid the abnormal surge in Covid cases.

She requested the police to initiate a case under several sections of the Indian Penal Code including 304 IPC (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 120B (criminal conspiracy).

This gains significance as a bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice S Ramamoorthy of the Madras High Court on April 26 observed that the officers of the EC may be booked under murder charges as Covid norms were not followed during election rallies that led to the spike in the number of cases.

Sinha died of Covid on April 25. Condoling the death, Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee had tweeted: "Very, very sad. Shocked. Kajal Sinha, our candidate from Khardaha, succumbed to Covid. He dedicated his life to serving people & just fought a tireless campaign. He was a long-serving committed member of @AITCofficial. We will miss him. My condolences to his family and his admirers."

On Tuesday, his wife Nandita Sinha lodged the complaint with Khardah Police Station stating that "the ECI is solely liable for my husband's death caused due to the rapid surge in Covid cases in Bengal as it has neither ensured safety of the candidates or the general public during the ongoing elections....The ECI knew very well that any lapses on their part will result in the spreading of a life threatening disease and lead to the death of thousands of people and still they did not take any steps to address the situation in Bengal". She had also mentioned about the TMC's request to the EC to club the remaining phases of the elections after the Covid surge was noticed after the third phase of the staggering eight phase elections in Bengal.