On Monday, the Calcutta High Court declined to expedite the hearing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that sought protection for women residents of the Sandeshkhali area. The PIL alleged that individuals affiliated with the ruling Trinamool Congress were committing sexual atrocities against these women.

A division bench led by Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam questioned whether the petitioner holds an elected position, such as an MLA or a panchayat pradhan, or if they are a resident of Sandeshkhali. Additionally, the bench inquired whether the petitioner had personally visited the affected area. It emphasized that merely attaching newspaper reports to the petition would not suffice.

The Chief Justice informed the lawyer representing the petitioner that certain fundamental criteria for a PIL needed to be met before it could be considered for hearing. Despite this, the petitioner's lawyer requested an urgent hearing for her PIL, which aimed to secure protection for the women residents of Sandeshkhali in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district.

The division bench, which included Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya, verbally communicated to the lawyer that it was unable to prioritize the petition for an urgent hearing. It explained that as a single bench was already slated to address a related issue concerning Sandeshkhali, conducting parallel proceedings would not be feasible.

The Court directed the lawyer to observe the proceedings before Justice Kaushik Chanda's court, where a petition concerning Sandeshkhali was scheduled for hearing. Additionally, if the lawyer possessed any separate evidence or material, they were encouraged to seek intervention in that ongoing proceeding.

In recent times, certain villages within the Sandeshkhali community development block II, situated in North 24 Parganas district, have experienced demonstrations due to accusations of sexual misconduct involving certain local leaders affiliated with the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and their associates. Furthermore, there have been allegations of land encroachment against villagers.