Calcutta HC withdraws protection to Suvendu Adhikari from future FIRs without court permission

Kolkata, Oct 24 (IANS) The Calcutta High Court on Friday withdrew the protection enjoyed by the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, from future FIRs against him by police without the prior permission of the court.

To recall, in December 2022, the Calcutta High Court's erstwhile single-judge bench of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha granted an interim protection to Adhikari, stating that no future FIR could be registered against him by the police without prior permission of the court.

The protection against future FIRs without court permission granted by Justice Mantha in 2022 was in addition to the interim stay on 26 FIRs already filed against Adhikari by the police.

A petition filed against the order by Justice Mantha's bench was being heard at the Calcutta High Court's another single-judge bench of Justice Jay Sengupta.

On Friday, finally, Justice Sengupta's bench delivered the judgment in the matter and withdrew the protection against future FIRs without court permission that the leader of the opposition had been enjoying so far.

Justice Sengupta observed that the protection granted to him earlier was an interim arrangement and hence, it could not be continued for an indefinite period.

At the same time, Justice Sengupta also said that if the counsels of the leader of the opposition had any observation on the direction of withdrawal of protection against future FIRs, they could submit the same to his bench by October 27.

Justice Sengupta also dismissed a total of 15 FIRs that were already registered against the leader of the opposition before he was granted protection against future FIRs without court permission.

In cases of the remaining existing FIRs, Justice Sengupta's bench ordered that it would be investigated by a joint special investigation team (SIT), with representation from both West Bengal Police and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

However, legal brains are of the view that since the withdrawal of the protection has been ordered by a single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court, the leader of the opposition has provisions for challenging that order at higher benches or at a higher court.

--IANS

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