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Abhishek Banerjee sharply criticised the West Bengal Police. (Photo: X)
On Sunday, TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee secured a major relief as Calcutta High Court put an immediate stop to the demolition of his Lok Sabha constituency office in Amtala, South 24 Parganas. The court asked all parties to maintain status quo till next hearing order pending on the urgent petition filed by the property owner Leaps and Bounds.
It is significant that the interim relief was urged a day after the demolition drive, which has sparked political controversy in West Bengal.
The case was heard in a special urgent meeting by Justice Raja Basu Chowdhury after Leaps and Bounds filed an urgent petition claiming that the property was being demolished by the authorities illegally, even though the company has valid land documents.
Senior Advocate Kishore Dutta, appearing for the petitioners, had pressed for this intervention and asked the court to calm down the administration by restraining it from demolishing the property. Senior Advocate Ayan Banerjee represented the TMC, which is also a respondent in the case.
In handing out the interim relief, the court remarked that it is not opining upon the merits of the case and asked all parties to keep the status quo till its next order.
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Police and central forces sealed off the area and the West Bengal police and agency hauled out three bulldozers to commence the sweeping of parts of the office on Saturday morning, when the demolition operation started in South 24 Parganas district administration.
The front part of the structure including the shed was swept off. Fire and Emergency Services personnel remained at the site as a preventive measure. There were many computers, laptops and a large number of documents recovered from the building through the police during the operation.
The demolition also led to BJP workers gathering at the spot raising slogans in support of the party.
After the demolition, Abhishek Banerjee sharply criticised the West Bengal Police and accused the authorities of violating the law.
In a post on X, Banerjee said that despite Supreme Court and High Court observations against arbitrary bulldozer demolitions, his office had been bulldozed. He added that police accompanied by BJP supporters had taken laptops, printers, furniture and sensitive documents from the office.
Calling the incident as ‘theft in uniform’, TMC leader said the police had displayed ‘utter contempt for the rule of law’ while the case was still before the High Court.
Calcutta High Court’s interim order directing the work to stop means that the case will now continue. The order means that no more action can be taken at the site until the next hearing while the ownership, legality of the construction and allegations of demolition will be looked at more closely. The case is likely to remain central to West Bengal’s political and legal conversation in the coming days. This comes in the middle of serious crisis within Trinamool Congress.
