Former Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay, now the BJP’s Tamluk Lok Sabha candidate, got a relief from the court on Thursday as it barred police from investigating till June 14 allegations that he attacked schoolteachers protesting the court-ordered cancellation of their jobs.

A single-judge bench of Justice Tirthankar Ghosh said the high court was issuing the order because Gangopadhyay is a candidate.

Last month a division bench of the high court cancelled the appointment of 25,753 teachers and non-teaching staff, made through the State Level Selection Test 2016, to schools sponsored and aided by the West Bengal government. The order was stayed by the Supreme Court on May 7.

On May 4, when Gangopadhyay along with BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari was leading an election rally before filing his nomination for the Tamluk Lok Sabha seat, some TMC supporters including schoolteachers who lost their jobs called him a “thief”. BJP workers taking part in the rally also shouted counter-slogans. Soon a scuffle broke out but police brought the situation under control. Protesting teachers alleged that some of them were beaten up by BJP supporters.

On May 5, the Tamluk police in East Midnapore district registered an FIR against Gangopadhyay and Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha leader Prashanta Das over the incident following a complaint lodged by the teachers. The duo were charged under Indian Penal Code sections 307 (attempt to murder), section 354 (molestation) as well as sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act, among others.

Gangopadhyay has rejected the allegations. “It is a false case and we are not worried. Those who filed the case already have many cases against them,” he said.