The Calcutta High Court on Thursday directed the West Bengal Police to ensure the safe return of persons allegedly displaced from their homes, shops and properties by violence following the Assembly elections, irrespective of their political affiliation, Live Law reported.

The directions were issued during hearings on public interest litigations alleging post-poll violence in the state.

Chief Justice Sujoy Paul said that it would be “lawful for the police authorities to strictly maintain law and order at the ground level”, The Telegraph reported.

Former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appeared as an advocate for one of the petitioners in the case.

“Even the children are not spared,” the Trinamool Congress chief told the court, according to The Telegraph. “Women are not spared. Minorities are not spared. I am handing over a list of 10 persons who have been murdered.”

Banerjee claimed that the violence was taking place in the presence of the police.

The Trinamool Congress chief, while exiting the premises, was heckled with shouts of “chor [thief]” by some lawyers, according to the newspaper. Banerjee claimed that she had been physically assaulted.

During the hearing, advocate Kalyan Bandopadhyay also appeared for the Trinamool Congress and sought an independent probe, preservation of CCTV footage and protection for displaced persons, Live Law reported.

“Our workers were brutally assaulted by the ruling party supporters,” the legal news outlet quoted him as saying. “Our workers became homeless and were forced to leave their homes. No one of our workers is able to stay in their home”

The state and Centre opposed the petitions, calling the claims vague and unsupported.

Deputy Solicitor General Dhiraj Trivedi appearing for the police, said the veracity of “stray photos” mentioned in the petitions will have to be verified, according to Live Law.

Trivedi asked, “Which time, what date, who were the assailants? Who were the complainants? A petitioner cannot make wild allegations in a PIL without evidence.”

He said that while there “might be disturbances in many places”, equating them with post-poll violence was “not fair”.

The Bharatiya Janata Party won the West Bengal elections on May 4, ending the Trinamool Congress’ 15-year rule in the state. The BJP won 207 seats, while the TMC secured 80 constituencies.

Since the results, widespread political violence has been reported in the state, including the killing of Chandranath Rath, an aide to West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari.

The Trinamool Congress condemned Rath’s killing and expressed grief over the deaths of its party workers in separate incidents of violence across the state.

On May 12, the investigation into Rath’s killing was handed over to the CBI. Three persons have been arrested in the case so far.

Edited by Neerad Pandharipande

Also read: ‘Voted for change but this feels same’: Kolkata reels under political violence after BJP victory