Calcutta HC to hear Mamata Banerjee's plea challenging Nandigram result next on Aug 12

A notice has been issued to Adhikari and the high court has directed to preserve the election records during the pendency of the case, Live Law reported.

The matter is being heard by a single-judge bench comprising Justice Shampa Sarkar.

This comes after Justice Kaushik Chanda recused himself from the case last week after Banerjee had sought his recusal over the "conflict of interest".

Justice Chanda, who was earlier associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was seen with various leaders of the party, to which Adhikari belongs.

However, the court had fined the Chief Minister Rs. five lakh for seeking the recusal.

Justice Chandra had said the penalty money of Rs 5 lakh will have to be deposited to the Calcutta High Court Bar Council Association account and it will be spent for the welfare of the members of the association affected by Covid-19.

After a close contest between the two heavyweights in the high profile Nandigram Assembly constituency, Banerjee lost to her confidante-turned opponent Adhikari by a margin of over 1,900 votes.

Banerjee had trailed Adhikari for 11 rounds but the trend changed in the next four, with margins ranging from six to 11,000. Adhikari gained in the final rounds and was declared winner.

The controversy erupted mainly after Banerjee was declared winner initially in media reports, but later, it was reported the counting was on and Adhikari was finally announced winner.