With the first phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections just two days away, a Public Interest Litigation has been filed before the Calcutta High Court, expressing concerns over the possible arrest of Trinamool Congress leaders and workers ahead of the polls.
The matter was listed on Monday before a Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court, comprising Chief Justice Sujoy Pal and Justice Parthasarathy Sen, which admitted the petition filed by advocate Md Danish Farooqi.
Kalyan Banerjee, a Member of Parliament from the Trinamool Congress and senior counsel, appeared before the court on behalf of the party. The case is expected to be taken up for hearing on Wednesday.
According to Indian Express report, TMC party workers alleged that the Election Commission of India had sought details of nearly 800 individuals, including MLAs, councillors and party workers across various constituencies, through the state police. Expressing apprehension of potential arrests, the petitioner urged the court to intervene without delay.
As per the Indian Express, the copy of plea says, “This list purportedly designates certain individuals, referred to within as “trouble makers” and has been surreptitiously disseminated among the cadre of recently appointed Police Observers and General Observers deployed throughout the state of West Bengal for election-related duties.”
“Accompanying this clandestine list is an explicit directive issued to the said observers to ensure that all individuals named as alleged “trouble makers” are identified, located, and subjected to arrest and/or preventive detention prior to the commencement of polling in their respective Assembly constituencies. The objective appears to be pre-emptive removal of these individuals, irrespective of whether there are any pending criminal proceedings or established grounds under law for such drastic actions. (and) to interfere, in an impermissible manner, with the integrity of the electoral process,” plea further claimed.
The list reportedly includes Cabinet Minister Udayan Guha, MLAs Paresh Chandra Adhikari, Hamidul Rahaman, Gautam Paul, Amirul Islam, Imani Biswas, Ratna Chatterjee, and former MLA Manirul Islam, among others.
In recent days, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has repeatedly alleged during the campaign that a “conspiracy” is underway to arrest Trinamool Congress workers ahead of the polls.
