Calcutta HC to hear tomorrow plea against BJP's call for bandh on 25 September in West Bengal

Kolkata: The All India Minority Forum moved on Monday a PIL before the Calcutta High Court seeking direction to the BJP to withdraw its West Bengal bandh call on Wednesday to protest the killing of two students in North Dinajpur district. Trinamool Congress MP Idris Ali, a practising lawyer, prayed before a division bench presided by Chief Justice J Bhattacharya for an injunction restraining the BJP from giving effect to the bandh call. The saffron party has called a 12-hour Bengal bandh to protest the death of two students at a high school in North Dinajpur district’s Islampur area in a clash with police during a demonstration for appointment of teachers. Moving the PIL, Ali urged for an urgent hearing of the matter since the bandh is to be held on Wednesday and submitted that citizens cannot be prevented from attending to their vocation forcibly. [caption id=“attachment_5252501” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. AFP[/caption] The division bench, also comprising Justice Arijit Banerjee, said that the matter would be listed for hearing on Tuesday. Submitting for petitioner All India Minority Forum general secretary MA Ali, Idris Ali said the Kerala High Court had held that bandhs are illegal and unconstitutional and that this order was upheld by the Supreme Court. Trouble had brewed at Daribhit High School in Islampur over the recruitment of Urdu teachers as the protesting students said they needed Science and English teachers instead. The students and the locals had stopped two newly-recruited teachers from entering the school on Thursday, demanding that all vacant teaching posts be filled, resulting in a clash. The BJP alleged that ITI student Rajesh Sarkar and third-year college student Tapas Barman were killed in police firing while the police denied the claim. District Superintendent of Police Sumit Kumar has maintained that police did not resort to firing during the incident.