Suvendu Adhikari
Setback for Suvendu Adhikari as Calcutta HC revokes immunity to Bengal LoP from FIRs, TMC lauds court order
Kolkata/IBNS: In a setback for West Bengal LoP Suvendu Adhikari, the Calcutta High Court on Friday revoked the immunity which was earlier granted to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) top leader from First Information Reports (FIRs), media reports said.
The immunity from all FIRs including the ones that would come up in future was provided to Adhikari on December 8, 2022 by High Court judge Rajashekhar Mantha.
As a result of the immunity, the state was restrained from taking any coercive step or filing any FIR against Adhikari, a firebrand leader taking on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the state head-on.
Calcutta HC judge Joy Sengupta ordered a probe into four cases against Adhikari by a Special Investigation Team (SIT), which must be formed by the state government and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Fifteen cases against Adhikari have been dropped, a local report says.
The judge said any interim order can't go on forever.
The LoP or his lawyer can file any written response by Monday.
Adhikari, a former member of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), had alleged the administration had filed innumerous cases against him since he switched to the BJP ahead of the 2021 assembly elections.
Though the State had moved the Supreme Court challenging the High Court's 2022 order granting immunity, the top court had refused to intervene.
Hailing the court order, Trinamool Congress (TMC) spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said, "Justice Joy Sengupta removed the blanket protection and now law will take its own course."
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