Two All India Trinamool Congress leaders, including a sitting MLA, approached the Calcutta High Court seeking protection from coercive police action over criminal cases registered after West Bengal Assembly election results, with Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya agreeing to hear the petitions Thursday.
Two leaders of the All India Trinamool Congress, including a sitting MLA, approached the Calcutta High Court seeking protection from coercive police action in connection with criminal cases registered against them after the declaration of the West Bengal Assembly election results.
The petitions were mentioned before Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya, who agreed to take up the matters for hearing on Thursday.
One of the petitions was filed on behalf of Paresh Ram Das, the Trinamool Congress legislator from the Canning Paschim Assembly constituency in South 24 Parganas district.
Senior advocate Kishore Dutta, appearing for Das, sought urgent listing of the matter before the Court. Dutta informed the Bench that six FIRs had already been registered against his client on May 16 and claimed that several additional cases were likely to be lodged in the coming days.
The counsel argued that the circumstances warranted immediate judicial protection against coercive police measures in relation to the criminal complaints filed after the election results.
Justice Bhattacharyya, after hearing the submissions, observed that the matter would be taken up for hearing on Thursday.
Paresh Ram Das was recently re-elected from the Canning Paschim constituency for a second consecutive term. According to election results, he secured victory by a margin exceeding 40,000 votes in the recently concluded West Bengal Assembly elections.
In a separate but related matter, another petition was moved before the same Bench by Kailash Kumar Mishra. Mishra had contested the Assembly elections from the Bally constituency in Howrah district as a Trinamool Congress candidate but was unsuccessful in the electoral contest.
Through his petition, Mishra also sought protection from coercive action in connection with criminal cases allegedly registered against him following the announcement of the election results on May 4.
The Court noted that his plea too would be listed for hearing on Thursday in accordance with the regular schedule.
The petitions come amid heightened political tensions in West Bengal following the Assembly election results, with several allegations and counter-allegations emerging between political parties regarding post-poll violence, intimidation and registration of criminal cases.
The Calcutta High Court is expected to hear both matters on Thursday to consider whether interim protection from arrest or other coercive measures should be granted to the petitioners pending further proceedings.
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