Kolkata, Jul 27 (PTI) West Bengal minister Jyotipriya Mallick on Tuesday said that he and Trinamool Congress MLA Partha Bhowmick have filed applications before the Calcutta High Court seeking to be parties to the matter on alleged post-poll violence in the state, as names resembling theirs featured in a list of "notorious criminals" in a report of an NHRC enquiry committee probing the allegations.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) enquiry committee, formed by its chairperson on the direction by the Calcutta High Court, has in its final report on alleged post-poll violence in West Bengal submitted before a five-judge bench hearing PILs made scathing remarks on law and order in the state.

"I and Partha Ghosh have filed applications before the high court seeking to be respondents in the PILs," Mallick, the state forest minister, said.

Claiming that there is no criminal case registered against him in the entire state, the minister said that the names of Jyotipriyo Mallick and Partha Bhowmick appeared in a list of "notorious criminals" submitted by the committee in an annexure to the main report.

Mallick said that he and Naihati MLA Bhowmick would seek to know whether the names in the list are meant to be theirs and if so, they would urge the court that these be expunged from it.

Mallick had earlier said that steps would be taken in accordance with the law and, if needed, a defamation suit would be filed.

An annexure of the report has a district-wise "list of notorious criminals".

The lists have names resembling several ruling Trinamool Congress leaders, including the forest minister, Bhowmick, Canning Purba MLA Saukat Molla, former Dinhata MLA Udayan Guha and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's election agent in Nandigram constituency Sheikh Sufiyan.

A clutch of PILs filed before the high court alleged that people were subjected to assault, made to flee homes, and their property was destroyed during post-poll violence in the state.

The five-judge bench presided over by Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal had on June 18 directed the NHRC chairperson to constitute a committee to examine all cases with regard to alleged human rights violations during post-poll violence in West Bengal.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)