Kolkata: Calcutta High Court on Wednesday verbally directed police not to take coercive steps against former Barrackpore MP and BJP neta Arjun Singh until the court considered his petition for hearing on Thursday. Justice Jay Sengupta issued the order after Singh moved the HC seeking quashing of the FIR filed against him. The petitioner also sought court directions instructing police to refrain from arresting him.
A Barrackpore court on Tuesday had issued an arrest warrant against Singh in connection with a shooting near his Bhatpara residence last week. Singh had earlier filed an urgent hearing plea before Justice Tirthankar Ghosh, who declined to hear it immediately and directed that the case be filed first.
Singh alleged harassment by the police authorities, claiming that while his residence was attacked by miscreants on the night of March 26 and 27, his complaint was being ignored. Instead, in response to a counter-complaint, he was summoned to appear at 10am and later at 2am on March 27. He further alleged that the police raided his house and conducted seizures.
"This is an absolute mockery," his counsel submitted, arguing that the police were acting on their "own whims and fancies."