Post Poll Violence: On Suvendu Adhikari's Dharna Plan Outside Raj Bhavan, Court Says...

The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday asked BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari's lawyer to suggest an alternative location to stage a demonstration on alleged post-poll violence in West Bengal, initially planned outside the Raj Bhavan.

Seeking to hold the dharna in front of Raj Bhavan, which the state said comes under prohibitory orders on gatherings under Section 144 of CrPC, Mr Adhikari's counsel said the ruling party held a sit-in there for five days in October, 2023.

Justice Amrita Sinha directed the petitioner's lawyer to propose an alternative location by the next hearing date on June 21.

The court also instructed West Bengal's Advocate General to determine whether any action had been taken against those who allegedly violated the prohibitory orders during last year's demonstration outside the Raj Bhavan.

Mr Adhikari's counsel, Billwadal Bhattacharya, claimed that his prayer to Kolkata Police for permission to hold a dharna in protest against alleged post-poll violence against opposition party workers outside Raj Bhavan from Wednesday afternoon was denied for administrative reasons.

Asked by the judge why the demonstration needed to be held in front of the Raj Bhavan rather than elsewhere, Mr Bhattacharya explained that it was intended to convey a message of unwavering belief in the Constitution despite alleged atrocities against opposition members.

The court noted that police had suggested the Y-channel near Raj Bhavan as an alternative venue for the demonstration.

Advocate General Kishore Dutta, representing the West Bengal government, reiterated that the intended location is under prohibitory orders and cannot permit gatherings of five or more people under Section 144 of the CrPC.

The ruling Trinamool Congress, led by the party's national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, held a sit-in outside the Raj Bhavan in protest against alleged withholding of West Bengal's MGNREGA dues by the Centre. Mr Bhattacharya claimed that the same prohibitory orders were ignored during that dharna.

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