Kolkata: In a major setback to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the Calcutta High Court on Thursday reserved its order on her plea that the judge assigned to hear her election petition against Suvendu Adhikari recuse himself from the case as he is an “active member” of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Justice Kaushik Chanda, who heard the matter reserved his order but did not specify the date for the verdict’s pronouncement.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo, who appeared before the court of Justice Kaushik Chanda through video conference as directed earlier on June 18, had moved the High Court claiming that she may not get justice from the judge due to his alleged BJP links.
Earlier, the Chief Minister’s counsel had written to Calcutta High Court Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal seeking reassignment of her election petition.
Asserting she has been made aware that Justice Chanda was an “active member” of the BJP, Banerjee in her recusal petition claimed the matter will have political ramifications since it is related to the adjudication of an election petition where the election of a BJP candidate has been contested.
She urged the Acting Chief Justice to assign the matter to another bench.
The Chief Minister has accused her former confidante- turned-rival Adhikari, who defeated her from the Nandigram Assembly constituency in the recent polls, of committing corrupt practices in violation of Section 123 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
Banerjee, who also alleged irregularities in the counting exercise in Nandigram where she was trounced by 1,956 votes, had sought to recount of votes in the constituency.
The Chief Minister’s request was, however, turned down by the Returning Officer.