Relief for Abhishek Banerjee as High Court pauses bulldozer action on his office
Relief came for Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee on Sunday after the Calcutta High Court ordered an immediate halt to the demolition of his Lok
Relief came for Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee on Sunday after the Calcutta High Court ordered an immediate halt to the demolition of his Lok Sabha constituency office in Amtala, South 24 Parganas, directing all parties to maintain status quo until further orders or the next date of hearing. The interim order came hours after Banerjee's company, Leaps and Bounds, moved the High Court seeking urgent intervention against the bulldozer action. The matter was mentioned for an urgent hearing before the bench of Justice Raja Basu Chowdhury after the office was razed despite the petitioner claiming it possessed valid land documents.
Read Full Story The demolition triggered a sharp political confrontation, with the Trinamool Congress alleging that the action was carried out in the presence of BJP leaders and despite the dispute remaining pending before the High Court. Reacting to the demolition, Banerjee accused the West Bengal Police of acting unlawfully and alleged that valuables were removed from the premises during the operation. "The lawlessness in Bengal is on full display. Despite Supreme Court and High Court rulings holding bulldozer demolitions unconstitutional, my Lok Sabha constituency office at Amtala was demolished yesterday," Banerjee wrote on X.
Abhishek Banerjee on X He further alleged that videos showed West Bengal Police personnel carrying away laptops, printers, documents, furniture and other office equipment along with "BJP goons", describing the operation as "theft in uniform" rather than a demolition. He also accused the police of showing "utter contempt for the rule of law" while the matter was sub judice before the High Court. The latest petition follows an earlier legal move by the Trinamool Congress after the party office was allegedly attacked soon after the Assembly election results. The party had then approached the High Court, claiming the police failed to act.
That matter was listed before the bench of Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya but was not taken up for hearing. Following Sunday's hearing, the Calcutta High Court directed that no further demolition work be carried out at the site and ordered maintenance of status quo until the next hearing, providing temporary relief to Banerjee in the politically charged dispute. Ends
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