Daijiworld Media Network - Kolkata
Kolkata, Feb 2: A division bench of the Calcutta High Court on Monday directed the West Bengal Police and Kolkata Police to provide complete and uncompromised security for public political programmes organised by elected representatives of opposition parties.
The order came in response to a petition filed by Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, who had approached the High Court in October last year seeking judicial intervention to ensure long-term protection for public events held by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators and parliamentarians, including Union ministers of state. The petition cited repeated instances of hostility and obstruction allegedly faced from ruling Trinamool Congress activists.
After hearing the matter, the bench comprising chief justice Sujoy Paul and justice Partha Sarathi Sen instructed both the state police and the city police to ensure absolute security for opposition leaders during their public political engagements. The court further directed that its order be strictly complied with until February 18, the next date of hearing in the case.
In his petition, Adhikari alleged that BJP leaders’ public programmes were frequently disrupted by violence and resistance, despite prior intimation being given to the police. He argued that such incidents pointed to a systemic failure of the police and the state administration in maintaining law and order.
According to Adhikari, such disruptions have become increasingly common since the conclusion of the 2021 Assembly elections in West Bengal. He also highlighted that his own convoy had been attacked multiple times since 2021, allegedly by Trinamool Congress supporters, leading the Union Home Ministry to enhance his security cover.
The petition also referred to attacks on the convoys of BJP Lok Sabha MP Khagen Murmu and Sankar Ghosh, the chief whip of the BJP’s legislative party in the West Bengal Assembly, last year. Both leaders sustained serious injuries in those incidents and had to be hospitalised.