Calcutta High Court Revisits FIRs Against BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari Following Supreme Court’s Directive
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In a significant turn of events, the Calcutta High Court has taken up a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) concerning the registration of FIRs and the initiation of criminal proceedings against BJP’s Leader of Opposition in West Bengal, Suvendu Adhikari. This move comes in the wake of directions from the Supreme Court.
Previously, a division bench led by Justice I.P. Mukherji had lifted a stay on coercive action against Adhikari. This decision had instructed the West Bengal police to register an FIR against Adhikari based on his comments during the Panchayat elections. However, a Chief Justice of India (CJI)-led bench of the Supreme Court overturned this order and emphasized that the matter should be presented to the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court for a fresh review. The apex court further instructed that this reconsideration should occur without being swayed by any prior judgments related to the issue.
Upon reviewing the case, the bench, comprising Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya, made a notable oral observation. They stated,
“We have to first decide whether it is a public interest litigation or political interest litigation. We are not concerned about who comes as a petitioner…yesterday the concern of the state was who is the petitioner not what is the cause…we have made an observation, you please read the newspaper today. In a PIL the court doesn’t need to hear the petitioner, he only brings it to the attention of the court. In the election matters we have observed that you are turning court into a political battlefield. Let affidavits be filed, matter to appear after 5 weeks.”
This development underscores the judiciary’s commitment to ensuring that legal proceedings are not influenced by political motivations and that the true essence of public interest is upheld.
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