SC to hear WB govt petition over Nandigram today
Thursday 13 December 2007

New Delhi, Dec 13 (ANI): The Supreme Court will today hear a petition filed by the West Bengal Government, challenging the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the March 14 police firing in Nandigram.

Earlier, Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan headed bench gave a nod for an early hearing into the matter.

At least 14 people were killed when police fired bullets on the activists of Trinamool Congress spearheaded Bhoomi Uchched Protirodh Committee (BUPC), who were protesting against the setting up of a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at Nandigram.

The State Government has contended that the Calcutta High Court had made a "premature conclusion" without properly evaluating the evidence on record.

The High Court, on November 16, had dismissed all petitions filed by the Buddhadeb Bhattacharya Government in connection with the Nandigram violence on March 14, and directed the government to continue the CBI probe.

The High Court had on November 27 issued a criminal contempt notice to Left Front chairman Biman Bose for his remarks that the judiciary was taking biased stand on the Nandigram issue.

Bose had said the court ruling that March 14 police firing in Nandigram was "unconstitutional," and a CBI probe into it was intervention of judiciary into the work of legislature.

Meanwhile, a decomposed body was found in a sack at Parulbari village in Nandigram, as police dug up a grave in a paddy field on Wednesday.

The Bhumi Uchched Pratirodh Committee (BUPC), which opposes the land acquisition for the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Nandigram, has claimed that the body belongs to one of their supporters, Harun Pramanik.

The BUPC are alleging that their supporters were abducted and killed by the CPI (M) cadres during the violence that rocked this part of the State earlier this year. 

The West Bengal Government had planned to set up a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) for chemical industries in Nandigram, but had to abort the project as villagers refused to give their farmland for the project.

The row saw violent clashes between residents opposed to the project and the communist supporters as well as police. (ANI)
- AY