The court said that the forces should be withdrawn in a phased manner as per the assessment of the ground situation by the IG (BSF), the nodal officer for force movement appointed by the Union Home Ministry.
A division bench of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmoy Bhattacharya directed the state to provide logistical support for stay and movement. Central forces. The direction came after Additional Solicitor General Ashok Kumar Chakraborty submitted in the court that the Home Ministry wanted to withdraw central forces deployed in Bengal in a phased manner.
Advocate General SN Mukherjee told the bench that the Central forces had come to Bengal with a specific objective. Quoting Entry 2A List I of the Constitution, Mukherjee said: “The central government had deployed central forces in Bengal to maintain normalcy. They should not continue after the purpose is served.”
The advocate general also said that “huge contingents” of central forces had already been withdrawn. “Of the total 239 companies of central forces present in the state, 136 companies have already been withdrawn. I have the full chart available,” he said.
The Additional Solicitor General objected to the submissions of the Advocate General. “Fifty-two companies left the state on July 22 and another 84 on July 27,” Chakraborty said.
Central forces, which are staying put in some schools, could pose a problem as other summative exams were being scheduled West Bengal Board of Secondary Education from August 1 to 8, said Animesh Haldar, district secretary of the Secondary Teachers and Employees Union.