The Calcutta High Court has issued an interim stay on the investigation into 47 FIRs lodged against BJP workers in West Bengal’s Purba Medinipur district. The FIRs were registered around the time of the Lok Sabha elections in Tamluk, leading to allegations of political vendetta.
Justice Amrita Sinha directed the state government to submit a rejoinder addressing the claims of malafide intentions behind the FIRs. The court emphasized that the preliminary investigation into the FIRs, filed nearly a month ago, should have concluded by now, negating the need for further police probe at this stage.
The petitioners, including Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari and nine other BJP members, alleged that the FIRs, filed within a 40-day span before and after the elections, were politically motivated. They argued that the complaints, mostly lodged by Basir Ahmed, accused them of assault and intimidation without basis.
Adhikari and his co-petitioners sought either the quashing of the FIRs or the transfer of the investigation to an independent agency, fearing biased treatment by the state police. They claimed that the FIRs were part of a political rivalry between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the BJP.
Also Read
Advocate General Kishore Dutta, representing the state, refuted the allegations, stating that Adhikari had been granted protection by the high court in a previous case, which prevented the filing of FIRs against him without the court’s permission. Dutta also argued that no substantial reason was presented by the petitioners to transfer the investigation to another agency and assured that the ongoing investigation was fair, with no indiscriminate arrests.
