calcutta-hc-lifts-court-protection-against-firs-for-suvendu

The Calcutta High Court on Friday, October 24, withdrew the special protection earlier extended to Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, which had protected him from the registration of future FIRs without court's permission.

The order, issued by Justice Jay Sengupta, brings to an end a close-to-two-year-long legal protection enjoyed by Adhikari — a prominent Bharatiya Janata Party leader and arch political rival of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee — since December 2022. That protection, originally granted by then-Justice Rajasekhar Mantha, had effectively barred the state police from lodging any new FIRs against Adhikari without the court’s consent, citing concerns of political vendetta. It had been implemented alongside an interim stay on 26 FIRs already filed against him.

Justice Sengupta, in his order on Friday, observed that the protection was always intended to be an interim arrangement, not a permanent exemption from due legal process. "Such a direction cannot continue indefinitely," the judge remarked, while clarifying that Adhikari’s counsel may raise further objections or seek clarifications before October 27.

At the same time, the bench dismissed 15 of the FIRs previously filed against Adhikari, citing procedural irregularities and a lack of merit. The remaining cases, Justice Sengupta ruled, will now be investigated by a joint Special Investigation Team (SIT) comprising members of both the West Bengal Police and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)— an unusual hybrid mechanism aimed at ensuring impartiality.

Legal experts note that Adhikari, who has often accused the state government of political persecution, can still challenge the order before a higher bench or move the Supreme Court. The ruling, they say, not only reshapes the contours of Adhikari’s ongoing legal battles but also injects a fresh charge into Bengal’s turbulent political rivalry, where courtroom victories and electoral stakes are often deeply intertwined.

 

 

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