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Bengal govt challenges HC order on Suvendu in his security guard’s death case
Adhikari, who is the leader of opposition in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, did not appear before the CID in connection with the case on Monday.
The West Bengal government on Tuesday moved the division bench of Calcutta high court against the order of a single-judge bench, which stayed a probe by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) into the death of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari’s security guard in 2018.
Adhikari, who is the leader of opposition in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, did not appear before the investigating agency in connection with the case on Monday.
On Tuesday, the matter was mentioned by a state lawyer before a division bench presided over by justice Subrata Talukdar with regard to filing an appeal against the single bench order. The state’s appeal is likely to be taken up for hearing on Wednesday.
“I was surprised to see the way the high court provided a shield to Adhikari. Police filed a case on the basis of a complaint lodged by the victim’s wife and were probing the death of his bodyguard. The court gave the person (Adhikari) a shield and said he can’t be arrested. Then what was the need of a police case? We have several questions against the high court order. This case has added to our questions. We would carry on our campaign against this without disrespecting the court,” Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy said.
Reacting to the state’s move, state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh said: “The state has moved the Supreme Court against the high court order on post poll violence. In most cases, the state has suffered a face loss in the court. It is being proved in the court that the state is not abiding by the law. The people who voted the party to power becomes doubtful in such cases as to whether they have voted the right party to power.”
In July, the CID initiated a fresh probe into the death of Adhikari’s security guard who reportedly died by suicide in 2018, officials familiar with the matter said. The victim’s wife lodged a complaint on July 10, demanding a fresh investigation into the case. Adhikari was with the Trinamool Congress at the time; he defected to the Bharatiya Janata Party in late 2020; and defeated chief minister Mamata Banerjee from his constituency Nandigram.
On Monday, the single bench of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha stayed proceedings against Adhikari in connection with the case lodged in Contai, in Purba Medinipur district.
The court also stayed proceedings against him in a case of an alleged political clash in Nandigram and a case of snatching lodged in Nandigram and Panskura police stations, respectively, in the district.
The court, however, allowed investigation against the BJP leader in an alleged job scam case registered with Maniktala police station in Kolkata and in another case where he is accused of threatening the police at Tamluk. It also directed that no coercive action (read: arrest) can be taken against the BJP leader in connection with these.
Adhikari is not a named accused in the cases filed in Contai and Maniktala police stations.
The order was passed by the high court in Adhikari’s petition seeking the court’s intervention in criminal proceedings filed against him by the police or an order transferring investigation of the cases to CBI.
The TMC and the BJP fought a high-intensity election, which the former won in a landslide. Since then, the TMC has accused the BJP of using central agencies such as CBI to target it; the BJP has accused the TMC of targeting its workers and supporters after the election results were announced. While the CBI is investigating some of the cases of post-poll violence in a court monitored probe, the Enforcement Directorate is investigating the role of TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee, who is also Mamata Banerjee’s nephew, in a case involving illegal coal mining. Meanwhile, a clutch of cases has also been registered against Adhikari.
