The Tripura government has in the Supreme Court criticised “public spirited” citizens for “selective outrage” over violence in the State while they remained “silent” about incidents of a larger scale in West Bengal.
The Tripura government urged the court to dismiss the petition filed by advocate Ehtesham Hashmi, saying the court is being used for an oblique purpose in the name of public interest.Tripura argued that the petitioners did not move a few months back when communal violence hit West Bengal, and suddenly their public spirit was aroused due to some instances in a small State like Tripura.
“It is pointed out that such a selective outrage of the petitioner is not presented before this court as a defence but to satisfy this court that under the garb of public interest, the august forum of this court is used for apparently oblique purposes,” an affidavit filed by the State government said. “ No individual or group of individuals professionally functioning as public spirited persons/ groups can selectively invoke the extraordinary jurisdiction of the court to achieve some apparent but undisclosed motive,” the affidavit stated.Mr. Hashmi’s plea has sought an independent probe into alleged instances of violence in Tripura.
