West Bengal Assembly Leader of Opposition and BJP leader, Suvendu Adhikari, on Friday lodged a complaint against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over her reported remarks on initiating counter-arrests. Adhikari's complaint alleges criminal intimidation and seeks justice against the Chief Minister. In a letter addressed to the police, Adhikari stated, "The actions of such a nature disclose offences which are cognizable in nature and directly trying to target me and the other members propagating the same ideology."
He urged the police to register an FIR against Mamata Banerjee under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code. "If the Police refuse to register the FIR, I will wait for 72 hours and then approach the ACJM Court requesting to take cognisance of the complaint," he mentioned in a post on X.
The complaint stems from CM Mamata's speech at Netaji Indoor Stadium on November 23, 2023, where she said, "Four of our legislators are behind bars now. They want to lessen our count through such arrests. But if they arrest four of us, I will get eight of them arrested by reopening the old cases already registered against them”, as quoted by news agency IANS.
As per an IANS report, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was speaking about counter-arrests in retaliation to the arrests of Trinamool Congress heavyweights by the central agencies in connection with various cases of alleged corruption.
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The BJP leader asserted that the ruling dispensation is "using its might" to implicate him in several cases after switching political allegiance to the BJP. He highlighted that the intervention of the Calcutta High Court and the Supreme Court has provided interim protection against these alleged "malicious acts."
"The ruling party, spear-headed by Hon'ble Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee (whom I have defeated in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly elections in the year 2021) has time and again promoted ill will and hatred towards me and the members of my political party as stated hereinabove," he stated in the letter.
Adhikari, in his complaint, deemed CM Mamata's remarks as "criminally intimidating" and contended that such statements attract offenses punishable under various sections of the Indian Penal Code.
"That being a political leader, Head of the Ministry of Home in the State of West Bengal as well as Hon'ble Chief minister of the West Bengal, when such person delivers a speech of such provocative nature indicative towards me and the members of my political party criminally intimidating us with dire consequences and false charges leading to capital punishment under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code. In such baseless manner, the repercussions are far greater than one can imagine," he wrote.
Earlier in the day, he had hinted at taking legal action over the remarks.
"I will seek an answer from the judicial system as to who is handling the administrative affairs in West Bengal. An FIR should be registered against the Chief Minister for making such comments,"Adhikari stated reacting to Mamata Banerjee's comments, as quoted by IANS.
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