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The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to entertain a plea by West Bengal's Mamata Banerjee Government seeking to register FIR in a stampede at a blanket distribution event organised by BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari in Asansol.
A bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud granted liberty to the lawyer to move the Calcutta High Court for appropriate directions. The lawyer appearing for the State Government mentioned the plea regarding the stampede at a blanket distribution event. The lawyer also apprised the apex court that there has been blanket protection that a single judge of Calcutta HC has granted to Suvendu Adhikari. Thereafter the West Bengal government sought to withdraw the plea. The Calcutta High Court on December 8, directed that the West Bengal police shall not register any more FIRs against Adhikari without the permission of the court. The high court observed that Adhikari is an elected representative of the people holding the post of Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly and then stayed each and every FIR referred to by him in his petition. "However, in the peculiar facts and circumstances of the instant case, the fact that the writ petitioner (Adhikari) is an elected representative of the people holding the post of Leader of the Opposition, the Court's mind is not free from doubt that the State police machinery, either on its own or under the influence of persons in the ruling dispensation, is out to completely stall the public life and personal liberty of the writ petitioner. There appears to be a calculated design to deprive the liberty of the petitioner," Calcutta HC said in its December 8 order. Adhikari, in his petition before the Calcutta High Court, said that there are 26 FIRs against him and they are an attempt to prevent him from performing any functions as a people's representative. Adhikari who left Trinamool Congress to join the BJP in December 2020 also said that the FIRs registered were at the behest of the ruling dispensation. On Wednesday, three people died while five others were injured in a stampede that happened during a blanket distribution program attended by Adhikari in Asansol. According to Asansol police, a blanket distribution program was arranged without seeking police permission, during which the stampede situation happened. "A blanket distribution program was arranged without seeking police permission, during which a stampede situation happened. 3 people died in it and 5 were injured. We'll investigate the matter and take action," Asansol Commissioner of Police (CP) SK Neelakantam said on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress (TMC) alleged that West Bengal LoP Suvendu Adhikari defied the law and attended a meeting in Asansol. Adhikari said that he did attend various programs but the tragic incident happened almost an hour after he left the venue. (ANI)
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