SC refuses to entertain Bengal govt's plea to register FIR against Suvendu Adhikari in Asansol stampede case
An SC bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud granted liberty to the lawyer to move the Calcutta High Court for appropriate directions
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Kolkata, Dec 15: Supreme Court ( SC ) on Thursday (Dec 15) refused to entertain a plea by West Bengal's Mamata Banerjee Government seeking to register FIR in a stampede at a blanket distribution event organized by BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari in Asansol.
A bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud granted liberty to the lawyer to move the Calcutta High Court for appropriate directions. The lawyer appearing for the State Government mentioned the plea regarding the stampede at a blanket distribution event. The lawyer also apprised the apex court that there has been blanket protection that a single judge of Calcutta HC has granted to Suvendu Adhikari.
Thereafter the West Bengal government sought to withdraw the plea. The Calcutta High Court on December 8, directed that the West Bengal police shall not register any more FIRs against Adhikari without the permission of the court. The high court observed that Adhikari is an elected representative of the people holding the post of Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly and then stayed each and every FIR referred to by him in his petition.
"However, in the peculiar facts and circumstances of the instant case, the fact that the writ petitioner (Adhikari) is an elected representative of the people holding the post of Leader of the Opposition, the Court's mind is not free from doubt that the State police machinery, either on its own or under the influence of persons in the ruling dispensation, is out to completely stall the public life and personal liberty of the writ petitioner. There appears to be a calculated design to deprive the liberty of the petitioner," Calcutta HC said in its Dec 8 order.
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"However, in the peculiar facts and circumstances of the instant case, the fact that the writ petitioner (Adhikari) is an elected representative of the people holding the post of Leader of the Opposition, the Court's mind is not free from doubt that the State police machinery, either on its own or under the influence of persons in the ruling dispensation, is out to completely stall the public life and personal liberty of the writ petitioner. There appears to be a calculated design to deprive the liberty of the petitioner," Calcutta HC said in its Dec 8 order.