The Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court extended the deployment of Central Armed Police Forces in West Bengal till June 26. It was earlier declared by the Election Commission of India till June 19. It comes after a spate of legal battles. Another Bench of this High Court had extended the stay of CAPF till Friday and a Division Bench comprising Justice Harish Tandon and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya extended it further at length after hearing the matter on Friday afternoon.
The Bench expressed its concern over the continuing complaints of post-poll violence from different parts of the state during the proceedings. They wanted the affected persons to go back home safely by next Tuesday and pressed for more police activity in trouble spots.
The West Bengal government's counsel wondered why CAPF was being continued despite its objection, to which the Centre's counsel responded, "The state's report itself mentions continuous disturbance and hence presence of CAPF is justified." A recent report submitted by the state government said there were 560 complaints of post-poll violence from June 6 to June 12 for which the state police filed 107 FIRs.
Ultimately, the Division Bench accepted the contention of the counsel appearing for the Union government to order the continuing retention of CAPF units until June 26 for maintenance of law and order in West Bengal in view of ongoing unrest.
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