Calcutta High Court Revives 2007 Nandigram Murder Cases

The Calcutta High Court has directed the revival of ten criminal cases regarding murders in Nandigram and Khejuri from 2007. The court criticized the West Bengal government's withdrawal of prosecution under Section 321 of CrPC as illegal. The accused must now stand trial for their alleged crimes.

The Calcutta High Court has ordered that accused individuals in ten criminal cases connected to the 2007 Nandigram and Khejuri murders must face trial. These cases had been previously withdrawn by the West Bengal government under Section 321 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).

A division bench stressed that the state's withdrawal of prosecution was legally unsound. Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Md Shabbar Rashidi emphasized that such actions could be misinterpreted as condoning political violence, which is detrimental to societal peace.

The court underlined the imperative of zero tolerance towards violence in a democracy, declaring the need for these criminal cases to proceed in the public interest and to uphold legal integrity.