Sandeshkhali: SC grants 2 weeks to LS to respond to plea by bureaucrats

The Supreme Court on Monday granted two weeks to the Lok Sabha Secretariat and others to file their replies to a plea moved by top bureaucrats from West Bengal against their summoning by the privileges committee of the Lower House of Parliament. They were summoned by the Committee of Privileges of the Lok Sabha over a complaint of "misconduct" filed against them by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Sukanta Majumdar when he was trying to visit violence-hit Sandeshkhali, a village in North 24 Parganas district of the state. On February 19, the top court stayed the notices issued by the privileges committee to the West Bengal chief secretary, director general of police (DGP) and others. Majumdar was hospitalised following clashes between BJP workers and police personnel after the workers of the saffron party were stopped from visiting Sandeshkhali. Chief Secretary Bhagwati Prasad Gopalika, the then Director General of Police (DGP) Rajeev Kumar and others, including the district magistra