Don’t harass politicians, Bengal officials told
March 24th, 2011 - 12:22 am ICT by IANS
Kolkata, March 23 (IANS) Administrative officials in West Bengal have been asked not to harass politicians while executing pending non-bailable arrest warrants, Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi said Wednesday.
“Every political party has mentioned to us that execution of pending non-bailable warrants (NBWs) should not be used for political harassment. We have made it clear to the administrative officials during the meeting,” Quraishi told reporters.
He, however, lauded the officials for executing NBWs. “We are very happy with the execution process of NBWs, which is two-three times higher than the previous elections,” he said.
When asked whether the election officials would execute the NBW pending against Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, as urged by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), Quraishi said: “The CPI-M had mentioned several cases pending against the Trinamool Congress, one of such cases apparently indicates about Mamata Banerjee. As we don’t have enough time to enquire into all cases, we have asked for details about the case.
“But basically the execution of NBWs is meant for die-hard criminals who can create disturbances during polls,” he said.
Without naming Banerjee, CPI-M Tuesday urged the EC to execute ahead of the April-May assembly polls the arrest warrants pending against leaders of the state’s main opposition party.
Some of the Trinamool leaders are facing NBWs over clashes with police at Barasat in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district in 1994, the CPI-M alleged.
However, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Wednesday said his government will not dig up old cases against bete noire Banerjee ahead of the elections.
- Execute arrest warrants against Trinamool leaders: CPI-M - Mar 22, 2011
- Don't want Mamata to be harassed before polls: Buddhadeb - Mar 23, 2011
- Buddhadeb is 'shame' of democracy, says Trinamool - Mar 24, 2011
- Wanted CPI-M leader met Buddhadeb, but not arrested: Trinamool - Mar 13, 2011
- Mamata's secretariat official evading arrest: CPI-M - Apr 20, 2012
- CBI seeks fresh warrant to arrest Nupur Talwar - Apr 18, 2012
- Pranab cautions Mamata government on teacher assaults - Jan 22, 2012
- College principals are political recruits: Mamata - Jan 17, 2012
- Bengal's law and order not satisfactory: Poll panel official - Apr 01, 2011
- Arrests of CPI-M, Trinamool leaders not comparable: Congress - Apr 18, 2011
- Railways, Kolkata municipality to be asked to remove Mamata's photos - Mar 25, 2011
- Bengal parties urged against violating poll code - Apr 29, 2011
- Pro-Maoist tribal body's spokesman re-arrested - Jul 01, 2011
- 75,000 opposition workers killed during Left rule: Mamata - May 02, 2011
- CPI-M failed to generate employment in Bengal: Mamata - Dec 12, 2010
Tags: administrative officials, arrest warrants, barasat, bete noire, bhattacharjee, chief election commissioner, chief minister, clashes, communist party of india, communist party of india marxist, CPI, die hard, election officials, main opposition party, mamata banerjee, nbw, previous elections, quraishi, trinamool congress chief, west bengal