Kolkata: A single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court, on Friday afternoon, has barred West Bengal police to file any fresh first information report (FIR) against the Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari without prior permission of the court.
Calcutta High Court’s bench of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha gave this direction to the state police on Friday after Adhikari’s council informed the court that the past FIRs filed against the leader of the opposition was mainly because of his comments in a rally or his Twitter messages.
Incidentally, on Thursday only Justice Mantha’s bench had put a stay on all the 26 FIRs already filed by the West Bengal Police against Adhikari.
Besides questioning the justification of filing so many FIRs even after the Calcutta High Court gave Adhikari a shield against any cohesive action, Justice Mantha also observed that Adhikari is the leader of the opposition elected by the people and under such circumstances the police either on its own or under the instruction of anybody cannot take steps to halt his actions.
The state advocate general, S.N. Mukhopadhyay who appeared at the Calcutta High Court on behalf of the state government, questioned the justification of such relief in terms of FIRs when already the leader of the opposition was enjoying a shield against cohesive action by the Calcutta High Court.
In his observation, Justice Mantha said that the court cannot overlook the apprehension of the leader of the opposition who had been elected by the people.
He also observed that the police cannot stop the leader of the opposition from performing his duty towards people by bringing charges one after another either by itself or as per instructions of anybody else.
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