West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the NUJS convocation in Kolkata
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today raised concerns over what she claimed as stifling of democracy in the country and warned it could lead to a presidential form of government. She urged the Chief Justice of India (CJI) to ensure the safeguard of democracy and the federal structure, though opposition parties in the state alleged that she was "indirectly pressurising the judicial system" with such statements.
Ms Banerjee was speaking in the presence of CJI Justice UU Lalit as they attended the convocation ceremony of the National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS) in Kolkata. Justice UU Lalit is the Chancellor of the university.
Urging the judiciary to protect people from harassment, the Bengal Chief Minister claimed that all democratic power was being seized by a certain section of the society. "Where is democracy? Please save democracy," Ms Banerjee, who was the Chief Guest at the convocation, told the CJI.
Taking a swipe at media bias, the Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo further said: "Can they abuse anybody? Can they accuse anybody? Sir, our prestige is our izzat. Izzat loot liya, toh sab loot liya" (once our prestige is violated, it's all over).
Praising NUJS as "one of the most important institutions in the world" and commending the current CJI for the role played by him, Ms Banerjee added: "I must congratulate Justice UU Lalit. I don't know if I can use this platform to say this, but in two months, he has shown what the judiciary means."
Clarifying her point, the Bengal CM added: "I am not saying people had lost their faith in the judiciary, but nowadays the situation has gone from bad to worse. The judiciary must save the people from injustice and hear their cries. Right now, people are crying behind closed doors."
However, opposition parties in the state had a different view of her comments.
West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC) president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury claimed that an attempt was being made to "indirectly pressurise the judicial system". "Deprived people are knocking on the doors of the courts to get justice," he told reporters.
Maintaining that law enforcing agencies have taken action against alleged corruption and irregularities in various issues in Bengal, CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP Bikash Bhattacharya said: "She cannot claim to be slighted for legal actions against corruption."
Bhattacharya, a senior advocate, is representing petitioners in several cases alleging irregularities in appointments of teaching and non-teaching staff in West Bengal government-sponsored and aided schools, wherein the Calcutta High Court has ordered an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is also probing some of these cases.
Alleging that the chief minister does not know what democracy is, BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar said: "People of Bengal are seeing for the last 11-12 years how the democratic system has been hijacked in the state."
Defending the Chief Minister's comments, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said Ms Banerjee had only expressed the views of the general public. "That court is the final pedestal of confidence is what the Chief Minister tried to say," he said.