Last Update: 13 September 2022, 22:13 IST
Water cannons and tear gas were used to disperse BJP workers trying to put up barricades. (Video: News18)
The bench directed the state authorities to ensure that no unnecessary arrests take place and no person is taken into custody unnecessarily in connection with the rally.
The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday sought a report from the West Bengal Home Secretary on the allegation that BJP supporters were forcibly stopped from attending its ‘March to Nabanna’ programme. A division bench of Chief Justice Prakash Srivastava and Justice R Bhardwaj also directed the state government to ensure security of the BJP’s state headquarters in Kolkata.
The bench directed the state authorities to ensure that no unnecessary arrests take place and no person is taken into custody unnecessarily in connection with the rally. The court directed the state home secretary to submit a report by September 19 on allegations made by the BJP that its supporters were forcibly stopped from attending the rally.
The bench said that there is a need to maintain peace and tranquility. The petitioner, in his PIL, claimed that BJP workers were forcibly stopped from attending Tuesday’s rally and party leaders were attacked.
It was claimed that BJP workers were barred from boarding trains and vehicles were stopped on their way to Kolkata and Howrah to participate in the rally. It was also alleged that party workers were attacked and prevented from entering or leaving the state headquarters of the BJP at Murlidhar Sen Lane here.
Petitioner’s counsel Subir Sanyal claimed that Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari was arrested despite the High Court’s earlier single bench order, which had shielded him from such action against him. Advocate General SN Mukherjee claimed that Section 144 was in force in the Howrah metropolitan area and the rally was not allowed.
It is alleged that some people involved in the rally resorted to violent activities. He submitted that the order of the Single Bench on Protection of Officers was in respect of the matters mentioned therein. Mukherjee told the court that the leaders arrested during the protests would soon be released on personal bond.
The officer, BJP MP Locket Chatterjee and other leaders were released from Kolkata Police Headquarters Lalbazar on a personal bond in the evening. Kolkata and parts of Howrah district turned into a battlefield as BJP supporters tried to clear the barricades during their march towards ‘Nabanna’, the West Bengal secretariat.
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