New Delhi: The Supreme Court today granted interim protection to five BJP leaders, including Mukul Roy and MP Kailash Vijayvargiya, in criminal cases lodged against them in West Bengal and directed the state police not to take any coercive action till the next date of hearing.
The bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul also sought response from the West Bengal government on the five separate petitions filed by BJP leaders.
Mr Roy and six leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have approached the top court alleging witch-hunt by the West Bengal Police at the behest of the ruling Trinamool Congress.
The petitioners, which also include BJP MPs Arjun Singh and Kailash Vijayvargiya, have also sought transfer of all cases registered against them by West Bengal police to any other "independent" investigating agency. Besides Roy, Mr Vijayvargiya and Mr Singh, two other BJP leaders -Sourav Singh and Pawan Kumar Singh - have moved the top court for protection in cases lodged against them in the state.
While granting protection to these five leaders, the bench directed the Ministry of Home Affairs to submit in a sealed cover a report regarding alleged clashes between TMC workers and security staff of West Bengal BJP leader Kabir Shankar Bose, who has filed a separate plea in the top court.
With inputs from PTI