Overview
- Speaking at the Jalpaiguri Circuit Bench event, the West Bengal chief minister asked that citizens not be wrongly targeted by investigative agencies and said media trials before verdicts must stop.
- The remarks came during the inauguration of the permanent building for the Calcutta High Court’s Jalpaiguri Circuit Bench, attended by CJI Surya Kant, who praised the facility and judicial decentralisation without addressing her appeal.
- Banerjee urged a judiciary free of caste or religious bias and requested support for junior lawyers, saying many new entrants to the bar are struggling.
- She highlighted state investment in legal infrastructure, including a new complex on roughly 40 acres costing over Rs 500 crore with six courtrooms and about 80 residences, and 14 acres provided in Rajarhat for a future High Court facility.
- Framing her call in the context of recent ED actions against I-PAC, reports noted the Supreme Court stayed Bengal police FIRs against ED officers and flagged courtroom disruptions, even as the ED alleged interference by the chief minister, which the state disputes.