The Calcutta High Court on Thursday paved the way for the Kolkata Police to register complaints against Leader of Opposition in Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari in "legitimate" cases. The Calcutta HC set aside an earlier order of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha, which gave Suvendu Adhikari protection from FIRs by police in West Bengal since last December.
According to news agency ANI, the Calcutta HC order on Thursday said that an FIR can be done by the police if they have the proper information. "The police can act as per law," the court said.
In December 2022, Justice Rajasekhar Mantha ordered a stay on 26 FIRs against Suvendu Adhikari. The BJP leader alleged that the complaints were frivolous in nature and had been registered only to harass him. He argued that one of the complaints involved a traffic offence of speeding, no proof of which was presented. He said that he was being harassed to prevent his movement within the state. Justice Mantha, while ordering the stay, said that as an elected representative of the people, Adhikari had the right to move freely within the state.
Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday participated in a rally from College Square to the Esplanade area in Kolkata to protest the alleged rigging by Trinamool activists across West Bengal during the recently concluded rural elections. Senior BJP leaders like Dilip Ghosh, Rahul Sinha, Agnimitra Paul, and Locket Chatterjee, too, walked in the rally along with more than 2,000 party activists.
Adhikari is likely to participate in a gherao of the BDO offices in every district of West Bengal on Friday to protest the alleged irregularities in the panchayat polls. The ruling TMC conducts its annual Martyrs' Day rally in Bnegal on July 21 every year. However, the TMC has accused the BJP of trying to stir up trouble in the state with the gheraos.
(With PTI inputs.)