Let div bench examine Suvendu’s plea to visit Murshidabad: HC
Times of India | 17 April 2025
Kolkata: Calcutta High Court on Wednesday directed that records of the application by state leader of opposition Suvendu Adhikari to visit Dhuliyan, Shamsherganj and Suti be placed before the division bench, which is set to hear a PIL petition on Murshidabad on Thursday.
"Reports on the ground reality in Murshidabad will be placed by the state before the bench tomorrow... The matter can be heard along with the PIL," Justice Tirthankar Ghosh said.
Counsel for the petitioner, Billwadal Bhattacharyya, said the state was denying Adhikari permission while allowing some other netas in the area. Advocate general Kishore Datta said: "Those leaders went on their own. We didn't allow them, and everyone saw what happened after their visit."
Datta brought up Adhikari actions in Sandeshkhali after getting court permission to visit, saying: "He went there and abused a senior police officer." The AG also pointed to practical problems faced by the administration. "Suppose the court gives permission to a 500-strong gathering. If another 10 or 20 people come, how can the police identify which 500 got the court's sanction?" Datta submitted.
"But does that mean that you will never allow the leader of opposition to visit the place? This court gave permission to the petitioner to visit Mothabari in Malda under certain conditions. Nothing happened. But that was a different situation," Justice Ghosh observed.
Datta pointed out that central forces were in Murshidabad. "Let the division bench assess the ground situation based on the report submitted by the authorities," he said.
The AG also said the counsel for the petitioner had misled the court by describing the leader of opposition's post as a "constitutional post". "No, it is not. LoP is a simple MLA. His salary is fixed on a par with a cabinet rank minister," Datta said.