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SC notice dents Basu's 'gentleman' image

Arup Chanda in Calcutta

The recent Supreme Court notice to West Bengal chief minister, Jyoti Basu, and his cabinet colleagues has stirred a hornet's nest in political and judicial circles in West Bengal.

As the longest serving chief minister in the country Basu has had an unblemished tenure and no one has dared question his personal integrity. In fact, the octogenarian leader has always been described as a "gentleman in Indian politics".

But the notice by the apex court on two Special Leave Petitions alleging Basu's and his colleagues' involvement in 'illegal allotment" of plots in Calcutta's posh Salt Lake has exposed the chinks in the Marxist armour.

The petitioners alleged that Basu had illegally allotted plots to his close relatives, cabinet colleagues, friends and personal staff, legislators, judges, bureaucrats, police officers and the husband of his biographer, Surabhi Banerjee.

Interestingly, while one of the petitioners is a Trinamul Congress leader, Tarak Singh, the other is Dipak Ghosh, a former bureaucrat who served Basu's regime for the last 20 years.

Originally planned as a satellite township for the middle-class, Salt Lake came up on reclaimed marshy land in the mid-60s. Since then all allotments were made through public notification and draw of lots.

Till the Left Front came to power in 1977 it was the administrator of Salt Lake who could allot plots as specified by the law.

Realising the demand for plots in the new township the Marxists usurped the authority of the administrator and formed Salt Lake Advisory Committee with Basu as its chairman. The committee was given the authority to allot plots.

The issue first came to the fore when in 1986 a body of local residents, the Salt Lake Welfare Association, moved the Calcutta High Court alleging that the land use plan was being twisted and land meant for schools, parks and community centres were being illegally allotted.

According to Arunabha Ghosh, the advocate for the petitioner, "On March 24, 1987, the day after the assembly elections, the former state urban development minister, Prasanta Sur, made 159 illegal allotments on a single day".

It was the first time that allegations against the Marxist government over allotment of plots in Salt Lake started pouring in.

In June 1987 Justice Bhagabati Prasad Banerjee of Calcutta High Court passed an interim order banning distribution of plots in Salt Lake. But within a few days he modified his own order stating that only the chief minister could allot plots from his own quota and according to his discretion.

Justice Banerjee marked the matter as partly heard by him which meant no other judge of the high court could admit the case. Despite repeated appeals the matter was never taken up by Justice Banerjee till he retired in 1998.

"The reason was simple," explained Ghosh, "He was the first person to be allotted a plot by Basu after he passed that interim order".

This fact has come as a shock to the judiciary as not only Banerjee but many other judges including a sitting judge of the Supreme Court, Umesh Chandra Banerjee, were also recipients of such "illegal allotments" in Salt Lake.

Said Ghosh, "It is a case of great concern particularly for the judiciary, that a learned judge takes advantage of his own interim order by getting a plot from the chief minister's quota and then does everything to see that the matter is never heard of till he retires."

Before the Supreme Court notice, Justice Pinaki Ghosh of the Calcutta High Court had dismissed the petition on technical grounds as the allottees had not been made a party in it.

While the Supreme Court notice has come like a bolt from the blue for Basu and his comrades, the state government has decided to contest the case. Before leaving for London for his medical check-up Basu commented that he was aware of the developments and would take necessary measures.

But it is not the Supreme Court order which has embarrassed the ruling Marxists. The list of beneficiaries has put a big question mark on Basu's integrity.

A plot of land in Salt Lake costs only Rs 12,000 a cottah (about 700 sq ft) while the market rate is Rs 5,00,000 a cottah: one can imagine the financial gains made by the 2,185 recipients of the chief minister's quota.

Who are these privileged ones?

Debjani Ghosh, wife of chief minister's confidential assistant, Joykrishna Ghosh, was allotted 42 cottahs of land for starting a school.

Subimal Basu, brother-in-law of Jyoti Basu. After Subimal Basu expired the house which he built is being occupied by the chief minister's son, Chandan Basu.

Jamshed Ali Mollah, a person against whom eleven criminal cases are pending. How he could bag a plot from the chief minister's quota has raised many eyebrows.

Somen Mitra, former president of West Bengal Congress, Zainal Abedin, former leader of the opposition in the state assembly, and Ruby Noor, Congress MLA.

Apart from these people the West Bengal government has given away plots to a large number of 'loyal' IAS and IPS officers.

Said Ghosh, "We have demanded a CBI inquiry into the whole thing."

Going by the list of allottees, it is a fact that an independent inquiry might open up a Pandora's box and cause considerable embarrassment for the CPI-M and harm Basu's reputation as an efficient administrator and an honest politician.

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