The Hindu : National : Parties in West Bengal upset over court observation

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Friday, Nov 19, 2004

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National

Parties in West Bengal upset over court observation

By Marcus Dam

KOLKATA, NOV. 18. An observation by a Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court threatening a political party with possible de-recognition if it defies the Supreme Court's stand on bandhs being illegal and unconstitutional has raised the hackles of parties across the board.

"It is [till now] a mere observation. If it turns into a verdict, we shall go in for a legal contest against such a ruling,'' the Communist Party of India (Marxist)'s State secretary, Anil Biswas, told The Hindu here today. In the context of the bandh called by the Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI) in West Bengal yesterday, a Division Bench of Justice Pratap Kumar Roy and Justice Jyotirmoy Bhattacharya had spoken of the possibility of recommending disqualification of the SUCI as a political party if its leaders chose not to comply with the directive of the apex court. The Bench reiterated that the Supreme Court had declared bandhs unconstitutional and the party calling a bandh would have to clarify its stand in court.

Leaders called bandhs to serve their own ends, it said.The observation came in the wake of a public interest litigation petition praying that yesterday's bandh be declared illegal.

The matter will come up for hearing tomorrow. "Let us await the final verdict,'' Mr. Biswas said.

In the event of the observation becoming a "verdict of the judiciary, we shall take the fight to the courts,'' he added.

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