The story so far: A day before the multiple rallies were held in Kolkata on account of Martyrs’ Day, West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on July 20, 2026, made public report of Justice Susanta Chatterjee Commission of Inquiry. The Commission of Inquiry to probe the police firing on Youth Congress supporters on July 21, 1993, where 13 Congress supporters were killed was announced by former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, when she came to power in 2011.

Ms. Banerjee who was a youth Congress leader then had led the march demanding that photo-identification card be made mandatory for casting votes. The procession was to march to the State Secretariat Writers Buildings, but the police intervened and fired upon the protesters in the city’s Esplanade Area. Ms. Banerjee had sustained injuries in the police action.

What did CM Suvendu Adhikari reveal about Inquiry Commission report?

Making the Justice Susanta Chatterjee Commission of Inquiry public in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said the firing on protesters was uncalled for.

“There was no need to fire bullets to control the crowd located far away from Writers Buildings” and “apprehension of an attack on Writers’ Building was imaginary,” the Chief Minister said quoting from the report.

CM Suvendu Adhikari said that the former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who had always claimed to be the prime witness in the July 21 firing, was not asked by the Commission to give her statement.

“The Commission, in its report, said that no proper documents were supplied to it. The former Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, who claimed to be the prime witness, did not record her statement before the Commission,” CM Suvendu Adhikari said.

The Chief Minister raised questions on the role of Manish Gupta, who was the Home Secretary in the then Left Front government, who later became a Cabinet Minister in the Mamata Banerjee government.

Mr. Adhikari said that the most important part of the report was the statement of Pankaj Banerjee (the former Leader of the Opposition) who refused to appear as a witness because he believed the Commission had been formed to shield the then Home Secretary (Manish Gupta) and a section of police officers,” he added.

Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari tried to highlight that Mamata Banerjee, and leaders of her party used the emotions of July 21 police firing to amass their personal property and political fortunes, but the families of the martyrs are being completely neglected today.

He added that while the Commission recommended ₹25 lakh as compensation for the family of each person killed and ₹5 lakh for every injured person, the families of those killed received only ₹2 lakh and the injured ₹15,000 during the previous Trinamool Congress government.

How many witnesses did the Justice Susanta Chatterjee Commission of Inquiry examine?

Justice Susanta Chatterjee Commission of Inquiry had summoned a total of 44 people including former Chief Minister (late) Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, then Chief Secretary N. Krishnamurthy and the then Home Secretary Manish Gupta, former Kolkata Police Commissioner Tushar Kanti Talukder and CPI(M) leader Biman Basu and journalists and photographers who were present when the firing occurred. The Commission had submitted its report in 2014, but the report was not made public by the Mamata Banerjee government.

The Trinamool Congress, however, observed the Martyrs’ Day with much pomp after it came to power in 2011. After 2011, when Mamata Banerjee came to power, not only her party leaders and supporters but prominent people from all walks of life would make a beeline at the July 21 Martyrs’ Day gathering. Lakhs of people from across the State would gather outside Victoria House in Esplanade to catch a glimpse of the leader and hear her speak.

What is the political significance of the Commission report’s release?

By making public the contents of the report, which was not made public by the previous Trinamool Congress government, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in West Bengal is trying to claim that Mamata Banerjee was not serious about giving justice to the 13 Youth Congress supporters killed in police firing in 1993. The BJP leadership claims that the contents of the report reveal that the former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee used the incident only as a political tool to rally her supporters.

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Monday (July 20, 2026) made public the report of Justice Susanta Chatterjee commission, which probed the police firing on July 21, 1993 which claimed the lives of 13 Youth Congress supporters.

The commission was set up by former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee after she came to power in 2011 and Mr. Adhikari said Ms. Banerjee neither implemented several key recommendations of the panel nor made its report public despite receiving it in 2014. Ms. Banerjee, a Youth Congress leader then, was also injured in the police action. The report was made public on the eve of Martyrs Day rally, when the rival factions of the Trinamool Congress will hold separate rallies in Kolkata.

“The commission recommended ₹25 lakh as compensation for the family of each person killed and ₹5 lakh for every injured person. But the previous Trinamool Congress government neither implemented these recommendations nor paid the compensation,” Mr. Adhikari said. The families of those killed received only ₹2 lakh and the injured ₹15,000, the Chief Minister alleged.

Mr. Adhikari said the former Chief Minister had always claimed to be the prime witness in the July 21 firing, but she was not asked by the commission to give her statement. The Chief Minister referred the role of the then Home Secretary Manish Gupta, who later went on to become Power Minister in the Mamata Banerjee government.

“The Mamata Banerjee dispensation also did not implement several recommendations made by the commission in its report, despite receiving it in 2014. Mr. Gupta was the Power Minister in her government then, and she was probably trying to save him,” Mr. Adhikari said.

According to the Chief Minister, the commission had summoned a total of 44 people, including former Chief Minister (late) Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, the then Chief Secretary N. Krishnamurthy and the then Home Secretary, Mr. Manish Gupta, former Kolkata Police Commissioner Tushar Kanti Talukdar and CPI(M) leader Biman Bose.

“Many have used the emotions of July 21 and the blood of martyrs to amass their personal property and political fortunes, but the families of the martyrs are being completely neglected today,” Mr. Adhikari said.

‘Unnecessary, unjustified’

Reading out portions of the panel report, Mr. Adhikari said it had concluded there was no situation warranting police firing on the Youth Congress rally and described the use of force as “unnecessary, unjustified and unprovoked”. The commission found that apprehensions of protesters storming Writers’ Buildings, the then State secretariat, were “imaginary”, and the police firings at Mayo Road, Dorina Crossing and Esplanade were completely unwarranted.

Mr. Adhikari said the panel had prepared a list of 44 key witnesses, including Mr. Gupta, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, ex-Kolkata Police commissioner Mr. Tushar Talukdar, veteran Left leader Mr. Biman Bose and former Congress leader Somen Mitra, but questioned why Ms. Banerjee herself was not examined.

Mr. Adhikari said his government would subsequently table other pending reports in the Assembly, including those relating to the Comptroller and Auditor General’s observations on Cyclone Amphan relief and alleged irregularities in the procurement of medical equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic.